Engines removed from plane that crashed in Akron

Akron Beacon Journal

AKRON

Federal investigators have removed both engines from the wreckage of a private charter jet that crashed into an Akron apartment complex Tuesday afternoon.

The two engines are being sent to the manufacturer, Honeywell, for analysis.

Investigators also have recovered the landing gear and continue to review a cockpit voice recorder that captured the final 30 minutes of conversation between the pilot and co-pilot of the doomed flight that claimed nine lives, Bella Dinh-Zarr, vice chair of the National Traffic Safety Board, said during a news conference Thursday afternoon in Akron.

The pilots can be heard discussing the impending landing and the weather – foggy and misty with a low ceiling – before the sounds of the impact, she said. Both were experienced pilots with the highest certification level awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

A group of meteorology experts will be reviewing the crash to determine if weather was a factor, she said. A group also will examine the plane’s maintenance records.

NTSB personnel likely will remain in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood through Saturday continuing to examine the crash site and looking for more clues to the cause, she said.

Two additional victims of Tuesday’s airplane crash have been identified by family, friends and social media.

They are pilot Oscar Andres Chavez and passenger Nick Weaver.

Chavez, 39, lived in North Bay Village, Fla., and flew for ExecuFlight in Fort Lauderdale, said NBC 6 in Florida.

He had been a pilot since 2006 and previously worked as a flight technician in Houston.

Weaver, 36, is a native of New Hartford, N.Y., reported CNYCentral.com.

He was married and recently started working for Pebb Enterprises in Florida.

Six of the others killed worked for the same real estate firm in Boca Raton, Fla.

The second pilot has not yet been identified.