Plane hit tree upon approach before fatal Kill Devil Hills airport crash: NTSB

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    KILL DEVIL HILLS, North Carolina (WTKR) — The single-engine plane that crashed Saturday evening at the Wright Brothers National Memorial First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, killing all five of its occupants, hit a tree on its second landing approach before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday.

Four adults and a minor died when the Cirrus SR22 plane caught fire after crashing into the terrain adjacent to the the airport’s lone runway just before 6 p.m., the NTSB said.

The plane was on a multi-leg flight and had most recently departed from Dare County Regional Airport, less than 10 miles away, before its approach at First Flight.

Footage and images obtained at the scene Sunday showed a pile of mangled metal and broken glass in the woods near the runway.

First Flight Airport is not a towered airport, meaning that pilots do not communicate with a traffic control tower when arriving or departing.

“There was something burning,” Perry said. “It was a chemical smelling burn, it wasn’t like a wood burning or anything. And we just couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.”

The Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and other local departments assisted in putting out the blaze. Smoke could be seen for miles above the trees, according to pictures posted in Outer Banks Facebook groups.

Weather conditions at the airport Saturday evening were clear skies and winds out of the south at around 10 mph, News 3 forecaster Derrah Getter said.

The victims will not be identified by the NTSB, and a final report of the incident will take between 9-12 months to complete, officials said.

The NTSB is asking anyone who lives nearby or witnessed the crash or aftermath to reach out to witness@ntsb.gov.

Officials expect to reopen First Flight Airport on Tuesday.

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