Two Plane Crashes, Two Mysteries

Tallahassee, FLTwo plane crashes, two mysteries. A plane crashed into the forest north of the Tallahassee Airport last week, killing two experienced pilots. Then, three days ago, a single-engine plane went down near San Antonio, killing three.

Florida plane crash kills two pilots

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the plane departed from Tallahassee Regional Airport last Wednesday to work on traffic patterns and take-off and landing techniques.

The Cessna 172S single-engine plane was registered to Eagle Air Corp., a company local to the Tallahassee area that specializes in flight instruction, airplane rental, air charter services and aerial photography. The victims were identified as Michael Piette, 63 and Mark Revet, 58. Both men were experienced pilots from the Tallahassee area. Piette possessed a private pilot's license, and Revet possessed a commercial pilot certificate to fly single-engine, multi-engine and instrument planes. He also had a flight instructor certificate for single-engine planes.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said yesterday that there was no distress call from the victims of the crash. Tower control sent out emergency vehicles only after a fire was spotted in the woods northwest of the airport at about 7:20pm.

"The plane was found significantly deformed and fragmented with components in all different directions," said Brian Rayner, a senior safety investigator with the NTSB. He added that the investigation into the crash is continuing.

The debris field from the plane crash reportedly encompassed about a half acre of forest.

em>Texas crash kills one adult, two children

The Kerrville Daily Times reports that the plane that crashed in Texas on Sunday morning was flying at 9000 feet when, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), controllers lost radio contact.

The Associated Press identified the victims of the November 8th plane crash as Carlos McKinney, 60, of Kerrville, and his two grandsons, Dylan Lord, 13, Brendon Lord, 12.

Officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety reported to AP that the plane went down at 11:36 on Sunday morning about 30 miles north of San Antonio. A report submitted by a Texas State trooper attributed the crash to an aircraft malfunction.

However, the cause of the malfunction remains a mystery.