Investigators Look For Evidence Of A Mechanical Failure Claimed To be Responsible For A Plane Crash
A flight instructor is blaming engine failure as the cause of a fatal plane crash that occurred in Miramar last month. Federal investigators, however, haven’t found any evidence to back up the claim.
The Sun-Sentinel reports that investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been looking into a plane crash that happened on Tuesday, May 12th, at approximately 8:00 a.m.
Onboard the plane was senior flight instructor, Andres Bastidas, and advanced aviation student, 25-year-old Mark Daniel Scott, a recent immigrant from Jamaica.
Bastidas and Scott were on their way to a practice area when they sent out a call to the air traffic control tower that they had lost power in their right engine. Station WSVN revealed the content of the 911 calls between the air traffic controller at the North Perry Airport in Pembroke and emergency dispatchers. Air traffic control warned emergency services that the plane was about to land on Pembroke Boulevard.
On its descent, the plane struck power lines and went down approximately 350 yards from the intersection of Pembroke Boulevard and Hiatus Road, crashing into a parking lot at the Miramar Commons Shopping Center and catching fire. Scott was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, and Bastidas suffered serious injuries. He was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
A third person who was on the ground at the time of the crash suffered minor injuries from flying debris. They were treated at the scene.
Last week, NTSB investigators told reporters that they could find no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction. The NTSB has not released into what they believe might have caused the crash.
The NTSB is still looking for further evidence that would verify Bastidas’s account. The investigation is expected to take several months before it’s complete.