NTSB Releases First Report On Arkansas Pilot's Fatal Crash In Oklahoma

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its first report on a plane crash in Oklahoma last month that killed an Arkansas man. 

The NTSB says Elmer Ray Broadbent's plane went down in LeFlore County near Talihina on October 21, 2013. 

Search crews found his body in the wreckage of his single-engine Piper PA 28 on October 24.

10/24/2013: Related Story: Crews In LeFlore County Find Missing Plane, 71-Year-Old Pilot Dead

The 71-year-old pilot lived in Heber Springs, Arkansas. He was a real estate agent and former airline pilot.

His wife called authorities on October 22 after he failed to check into his hotel in Elk City, Oklahoma. 

His wife told investigators he was flying from Searcy, Arkansas to Elk City on October 21 to close a deal on a house.

In its Preliminary Report on the crash, the NTSB says search crews found the wreckage in heavily wooded and hilly terrain.

The NTSB says Broadbent took off from Searcy at 1:30 p.m. on October 21, 2013. It believes the plane crashed at about 3:30 p.m. 

Read the Preliminary Report.

The NTSB says witnesses saw the plane a few minutes before it crashed flying in and out of clouds and rain, but no one reported seeing the crash.

The Preliminary Report is the first of three reports the NTSB will release on the crash. The Factual Report and the Probably Cause Report are usually completed several months after a crash.