New details in NW OKC plane crash

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

A report released on Wednesday is shedding some new light about a fatal plane crash that took the lives of five men in Oklahoma City.

A preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board does provide a few new details. Investigators said the plane nosedived to the ground, exploded and one witness said "around the time of the fireball he observed pieces of a bird falling from the sky."

There has been speculation the crash was caused by a bird flying into one of the plane's engines. And in the report, three witnesses reported hearing noises "described as a high pitch grinding, screech or a squeal" coming from the plane before impact.

The NTSB report goes on to read "there were no reported radio calls of distress from the flight crew," and while the plane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, it was not working at the time of the crash.

The report also points out the crash was captured on a security camera at an OG&E substation near the accident site. OG&E said it has turned the video over to the NTSB for their investigation.

A plane took off from Wiley Post Airport on March 5 and crashed to the ground naer NW 10 St. and Council Rd. The crash killed a former missionary, a church deacon and three business executives.

NTSB preliminary report