NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – The National Transportation Safety Board provided new details on a plane crash in North Myrtle Beach that claimed the lives of five people.
The federal agency released a preliminary report that does not provide an exact cause for the crash.
It states that according to family members, the five people left in the plane on Friday, June 30 from Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey for a vacation in North Myrtle Beach.
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A ramp employee at the Grand Strand Airport confirmed that the pilot requested a full fuel top-off the airplane when they arrived in North Myrtle Beach.
On Sunday, July 2, surveillance video at the Grand Strand Airport recorded part of the small plane’s takeoff.
NTSB issues the preliminary report for its ongoing investigation of the July 2 crash of a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Download the report PDF: https://t.co/vCDK4ggCL8 — NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 18, 2023
“The video revealed that the airplane climbed from the runway at a shallow ascent, with a nose high pitch attitude, until it was out of the camera’s view,” the report states.
The NTSB spoke to a witness who reported seeing the single-engine plane take off from the airport and said it had difficulty gaining altitude. The witness said there were no visible or audible indications that there were any engine issues.
The report states that the small plane leveled off and veered right and the right-wing “stalled.”
The witness told the NTSB they said the underside of the plane as it quickly descended to the ground behind some trees in the area of Pete Dye Drive and that’s when the witness heard the crash and saw an “immediate fireball.”
People observe the big cloud of smoke after a plane crashed on Sunday, July 2 in North Myrtle Beach. (Source: Beth Goff)
The NTSB report shows the engine was damaged in the crash and fire, along with the cockpit and instrumental panel.
The pilot, Dr. Joseph Farnese, along with Tanique Cheu, her 7-year-old son Sean Gardner, 17-year-old Odaycia Edwards and Suzette Coleman-Edwards died in the plane crash.
The full NTSB investigation into the plane crash takes much longer and could take 12-24 months to complete and determine the cause of the crash.
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