Flight Crew Reported Problem With Left Engine Moments Before Fatal Crash in Addison

The crew of a plane that crashed Sunday in Addison talked about a problem with the left engine just seconds before the crash, federal investigators reported Tuesday. The Beechcraft Super King Air 350 struck a hangar at Addison Municipal Airport shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, killing all 10 people aboard...

By Silas Allen

July 2, 2019

Image: Damage to a hangar at Addison Airport is captured in this photo taken by an NTSB drone Monday. The hangar was damaged when a Beechcraft Super King Air 350i crashed into the hangar during takeoff Sunday.

Damage to a hangar at Addison Airport is captured in this photo taken by an NTSB drone Monday. The hangar was damaged when a Beechcraft Super King Air 350i crashed into the hangar during takeoff Sunday. NTSB

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The crew of a plane that crashed Sunday in Addison talked about a problem with the left engine just seconds before the crash, federal investigators reported Tuesday.

The Beechcraft B300 Super King Air 350i struck a hangar at Addison Municipal Airport shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, killing all 10 people aboard.

During a press conference Tuesday morning, Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said a recording from the plane's cockpit voice recorder included "crew comment consistent with confusion" 12 seconds before the end of the recording. Eight seconds before the end of the recording, the crew remarked on a problem with the plane's left engine. Five seconds later, the recorder recorded three automated alerts warning the crew that they were in danger of crashing, Landsberg said.

The plane, which was registered to EE Operations, crashed just moments after takeoff en route to St. Petersburg, Florida, officials said.

NTSB investigators are expected to be at the scene for several days. The agency will likely release a report showing a preliminary cause of the crash in the coming weeks.

The Dallas Morning News identified those killed in the crash as Brian and Ornella Ellard and her children, 15-year-old Alice Maritato and 13-year-old Dylan Maritato; Steve and Gina Thelen; John and Mary Titus; and crew members Matthew Palmer, 28, and Howard Cassady, 71, who was the last of the victims to be publicly named.

Silas Allen has been the Dallas Observer's news editor since March 2019. Before coming to Dallas, he worked as a reporter and editor at the Oklahoman in Oklahoma City. He's a Missouri native and a graduate of the University of Missouri.

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