A small plane that crashed last month as it approached a suburban New York airport, killing two people on board, had a damaged engine that led the aircraft to bleed oil, according to an investigation by National Transportation Safety Board.
NY AUDIO REVEALS FINAL MINUTES BEFORE PLANE CRASH, AS 2 OCCUPANTS CALLED FAMILIES TO SAY GOODBYE
Investigators said they found a hole in the top of the crankcase and noted fresh oil at the bottom of the fuselage, which apparently caused the plane to fly poorly.
The single-engine Beechcraft A36 was flying from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio, on Jan. 19.
The pilot had radioed air traffic controllers that the plane was approaching the White Plains airport with a "dead cylinder," but then went silent not long after broadcasting, "mayday mayday mayday mayday."
The aircraft was about a mile from the A at around 6:15 p.m. The airport is near White Plains, about 39 miles north of JFK.
