Crashed plane's engine too damaged for examination

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board cannot examine the engine of a small plane that made a fiery landing in a Chatham County pasture last month, according to a report filed last week.

Posted 5:16 p.m. Dec 7, 2009 — Updated 5:16 p.m. Dec 7, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. — Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board cannot examine the engine of a small plane that made a fiery landing in a Chatham County pasture last month, according to a report filed last week.

The fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna 170B crash landed in the pasture, off 7691 N.C. Highway 751, south of Seagrove Supply, on Nov. 25. The plane crashed through a fence and caught fire, authorities said.

Kent Misegades, who owns the plane, said his friends took off from Cox Airport in Apex, headed to Charlottesville, Va. Shortly after, though, the plane's engine started running roughly, and smoke and flames filled the cockpit.

The couple aboard the plane wasn't injured. Their names haven't been released.

"Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed it was completely consumed by the post-crash fire, with the exception of the tail section," according to an NTSB preliminary report on the crash. "The engine could not be examined due to the severe fire damage, and the propeller blades displayed slight 's-bending.'"

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