NTSB Investigates Deadly Plane Crash

Wednesday, November 28th 2007, 4:46 pm

By: News On 6

A plane crash happened in Jenks on Tuesday night near the Jones Riverside Airport. The crash seriously injured the pilot and killed his wife and father. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration spent the day combing the scene near 81st and Elwood for any clues. They say the cause could be mechanical, pilot error or both.

A short flight home to Little Rock ended in disaster for one family.

Fifty-nine-year-old Rick Musticchi was the pilot. He was a Little Rock police officer and experienced pilot. He bought the Cessna 210 just hours before the crash. Rick narrowly escaped with his life, but his wife, Patricia, and his father, Thomas, died at the scene.

â€œOur sympathies go out to those that have died and a speedy recovery for the survivor,â€ said NTSB Air Safety Investigator Jason Aguilera.

Investigators are trying to figure out what happened. They say the trio left Jones Riverside Airport sometime before 6:30 p.m. to head home to Little Rock, sometime later Rick had to turn around because the plane had an electric problem. That's when he clipped a guide wire which sparked a grass fire. The small plane landed upside down in a ravine. The Tulsa Fire Department was one of the first to arrive on the scene.

â€œObviously, very dark. We had quite a bite of fire proceeding where the plane had come to rest. It didn't take us very long to locate the plane itself. It was kind of next some trees and in a ravine,â€ said Tulsa Fire Department Captain Larry Bowles.

NTSB says it is looking into the pilot, plane, and the environment.

â€œWhat we mean by that is that we're going to look over the pilotâ€™s history, qualifications, environment, the weather, sunlight, moonlight, then we're going to look at the aircraft itself. All the systems on board, and what we're going to do is rule out what didn't happen, to come to a possible conclusion,â€ said Jason Aguilera

A preliminary report should be ready in about five days and the final report could take up to a year. NTSB says it plans to move the plane sometime on Thursday and continue its investigation in an undisclosed location.

Watch the video: Investigation Continues In Deadly Plane Crash

Related stories:

11/27/2007 Two Die, One Survives Plane Crash

11/28/2007 Plane Crash Kills Two