A single-engine plane crash near Gurdon last month that left two people dead resulted from mechanical problems during an equipment test, according to a preliminary crash report.
The National Transportation and Safety Board report released Monday details the Jan. 5 flight from McKinney, Texas, bound for Franklin, N.C., that killed Jimmy Kent, 40, and Robert Charles Kent Jr., 36, when the plane crashed into a swamp near Gurdon.
While cruising at 17,500 feet in a Columbia LC41-550FG, the pilot requested clearance around 12:30 p.m. to climb to an altitude of 25,000 feet to test equipment, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
After climbing to that height, the pilot sought to descend back to 17,500 feet and was cleared by air traffic control to fly at 19,000 feet.
The pilot informed air traffic control that he was "experiencing equipment issues" and again requested to descend to 17,500 feet, the report states.
At 12:35 p.m., the aircraft was cleared to descend to 17,000 feet, with the pilot initially telling air traffic control that everything was OK.
The report noted that about a minute later, an emergency was declared and his response became "garbled and not recognizable."
"Evidence at the accident site showed the airplane impacted the ground at high speed, almost 90-degrees nose down," the agency said. "The majority of the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post-impact fire."
State Desk on 02/09/2017