Report: Plane engine lost power 50 miles away before crashing at Youngstown Warren airport, killing three on board
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary findings of a fatal crash that took three lives near the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport earlier this month.
New details reveal that the plane, carrying Jawdat Khawam, 54, Martine Arseneault, 45, and Daphne Khawam, 8, left Plattsburgh, New York, around 4:51 p.m. destined for John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio.
All three victims were from Laval, Quebec, which is near Montreal.
Khawam was the President and CEO of Uandmycar.com, the owner of the Beechcraft BE-60 and its pilot.
At around 50 miles northeast of the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport (YNG), Khawam told traffic control that the left engine of the plane lost power and he couldn't maintain altitude. He requested landing the plane at the YNG airport for its longer 9,003-foot runway.
While attempting to land, the plane circled near the end of the airport's runway 32. At around 109 miles per hour, the plane turned left and hit the ground a quarter mile west of the runway
Witness reports of the incident state that the plane approached the runway at a higher than normal altitude and did not touch down. Near the end of the runway, it increase its height from the ground rapidly and began to "flip."
After crashing, a fire consumed the wreckage and destroyed a majority of the plane, according to the report. All structural components of the airplane were found in the wreckage debris path, the landing gear was found in the downward position.
Additionally, the NTSB has determined that Khawam had both his Canadian and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration private pilot certificates with airplane single engine land and airplane multiengine land ratings.
The wreckage was retained for further examination.
This investigation is still ongoing.