The small plane that crashed in Provincetown this month, seriously injuring all seven people on board, crashed after appearing to abort a landing at the airport of the Massachusetts tourist destination, according to a new report from federal investigators.
Cape Air Flight 2072 had been flying from Boston Logan International Airport with seven people on board -- six passengers and the pilot -- when it hit trees beyond the end of the runway at Provincetown Municipal Airport at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 9, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report, released Wednesday.
A pilot who was on the ground at the time of the crash described to investigators what he saw when the Cessna 402 came in for its landing amid rain. He said he could tell the plane was going "a little faster than it should be," and wouldn't have enough room to come to a stop, the report said.
He saw the plane take off again and climb slowly -- slower than he thought it should -- and then hit trees just outside of the airport. After losing sight of the plane, he saw a ball of flames rising in the air, the report said.
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Investigators noted that the plane landed upright about 200 feet from where it hit the first tree, and that its wings were charred by fire.
The pilot, who wasn't identified, had logged more than 17,000 hours flying, including 10,000 in the kind of plane he was flying at the time, the Cessna 402.
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Scanner audio obtained by NBC10 Boston described the two-engine Cessna being consumed by flames after it veered off the runway and crashed into the nearby woods.
"The plane is on Race Point Road before the entrance to the airport, fully engulfed," dispatch said through the radio. "[We're] going to need at least three ambulances."
The pilot and six passengers on board the Cape Air flight were then rescued and rushed to the hospital.
Images shared by an eyewitness to NBC10 Boston show the aftermath of the accident: an aircraft severely damaged and burned.
"The firefighters came, we saw it from the other side," said the witness, who saw smoke coming from the crash site.
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