Fremont, Neb. – A small plane seemed to have hit an electric line before crashed into the Platte River In Nebraska and killed the three people on board, according to the National Board of Transportation Security.
Few details are available on the accident on Friday night because it is early in NTSB research. The agency’s preliminary report is expected in a few weeks, but the final report that identifies the cause will probably not be done for more than a year.
Fremont airport officials told Ketv that the plane was flying without its transpondor on, but Scott Vlaek, director of the Aviation Institute of the University of Nebraska-Amaha, said that this might not have been necessary because the plane flew in not controlled airspace along the river.
The researchers will examine the maintenance records of Cessna 180, 71, for any sign of mechanical problems that could have contributed to the accident.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s office identified the three people killed in the accident as Daniel Williams, 43, from Moundridge, Kansas; Jeff Bittinger, 50; and Randy Amrein, 48. Bittinger and Amrein lived in Fremont, Nebraska.
