WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a preliminary report on the plane crash that claimed the lives of a Trumbull County, Ohio pilot and his passenger from Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

The NTSB says Timothy Williams, 59, of Hartford Township was piloting the experimental, amateur-built single engine private plane that crashed near Merry’s Pymatuning Airport, in Linesville, Pennsylvania at 6:15 p.m. December 7.

Wiliams and his passenger Nathan R. Koontz, 33, from Linesville both died in the crash.

According to the preliminary report, Koontz had flown his airplane to Greenville Municipal Airport for maintenance work and Williams was flying him home to the Pymatuning Airport.

The owner of a nearby farm said she heard an impact sound about 6:15 p.m., but didn't see anything because it was dark and foggy.

Rescue personnel later located the wreckage about 10:30 p.m. in a wooded area adjacent to the farm.

The plane was upside down, one wing was separated from the fuselage and the cockpit was crushed, according to the NTSB.

Investigators observed that some of the aircraft’s control cables were separated, but the report does not specify if damage to the cables was a result of the crash.

Williams, who held a private pilot certificate and a medical certificate issued in November of last year, reported a total flight experience of 600 hours.

The crash occurred a half hour before sunset in weather conditions that included overcast skies and visibility of seven miles.

A GPS, video recorder, and engine monitor were recovered from the wreckage and forwarded to the NTSB Laboratory, Washington, DC, for data download and analysis.

It is not known when the agency will release a more comprehensive report that includes a possible cause of the crash.