Before a small plane crashed into an apartment building in Keene last month, witnesses heard abnormal sounds coming from the engine, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash on the evening of Oct. 21 killed the two people in the plane, whom authorities identified as Lawrence Marchiony, age 41, of Baldwinville, Massachusetts, and Marvin David Dezendorf, age 60, Townshend, Vermont.
The plane was owned by Monadnock Aviation, a local flight school and rental company. An NTSB investigator previously said both men were pilot rated, according to The Keene Sentinel. Dezendorf’s obituary describes him as a flight instructor for the business.
Witnesses on the ground said the plane’s engine sounded rough as it took off from Dillant-Hopkins Airport just south of Keene, according to the NTSB’s report.
One person said he heard the engine momentarily reduce power, then a power advance, as the plane continued in what he described as a shallow climb. Witnesses told investigators it never got higher than about 200 feet in the air.
Another witness, about a half mile away, said the plane was just 50 feet off the ground when it went by. He heard popping sounds, then saw the plane start descending as the engine noise got louder.
The report says neither occupant made a distress call before the plane crash. It struck a storage structure attached to the apartment building. None of the eight residents were injured in the crash or subsequent fire.
The crash occurred a little before 7 p.m. in an area of commercial buildings, apartments and single-family houses south of Keene’s downtown.
The NTSB says its findings are not final and could change after more investigation.
