A federal investigation into a deadly plane crash in Watkinsville that killed two people has revealed new details about the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary investigative report said federal agents are still working to determine if weather was a factor.
While flying from Leesburg, Florida, on April 26, a Cessna 177B crashed near Watkinsville around 3 p.m. Both the pilot and passenger, later identified as Robert and Sandra Denton, died.
The couple, who were residents of Williamsburg, Michigan, Clare, Michigan and The Villages, Florida, had reportedly been flying to the Barrow County airport.
Family members said both Robert and Sandra Denton were “seasoned pilots...taken before their time.”
The newly released NTSB report on the crash says that while approaching the Barrow County Airport in Winder, the plane started to descend to 4,000 feet, and requested runway access.
However, the air traffic controller asked for a change of runway, with new flight vectors on final approach to land. The controller then told the pilot to wait, due to another inbound aircraft having to cancel their clearance to land.
The NTSB report says a low altitude alert activated when the Dentons’ plane descended from 4,000 feet, with the air traffic controller issuing a safety alert and instructing them to stay at 3,000 feet in the air.
No further transmissions were received from the Dentons’ flight and contact with the controller was lost, according to the NTSB report.
Data from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast showed the plane “entered a right turn consistent with the controller’s instructions,” and remained in the turn until contact was lost.
The last place data for the flight is available was a spot 1,200 feet west of the main wreckage site, an open farm field just over a mile northwest of Watkinsville and roughly 3,000 feet mean sea level.
The NTSB also detailed some of the damage and condition of the plane post-crash.
According to the report, “The right wing separated in flight, at approximately the mid-length section of the right flap and came to rest in a wooded area about 988 ft west of the main wreckage.
“The separated wing section was in close proximity to the coordinates of the last ADS-B data point. The right wing flap also separated in flight and came to rest in the top of a yellow pine tree, approximately 90 ft above the ground, about 428 ft west of the separated right wing section.”
Pieces of lightweight debris and windshield fragments were found between the main wreckage and the separated right wing, according to NTSB. The report also said “ground scars” from landing gear were present at the site of the crash.
The crash remains under investigation by the FAA and the NTSB.
The family has asked for privacy in the wake of the accident.