The five people killed aboard a single-engine plane that crashed and caught fire at Wright Brothers National Memorial’s First Flight Airport in North Carolina over the weekend have been identified, officials said Tuesday.
The National Park Service (NPS) identified the victims as Shashwat Ajit Adhikari, 31, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Jason Ray Campbell, 43, Southern Pines, North Carolina; Kate McAllister Neely, 39, of Southern Pines, North Carolina; Matthew Arthur Fassnacht, 44, of Marietta, Georgia; and a 6-year-old child, whose name was not provided.
"National Park Service employees at Wright Brothers National Memorial, Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (Outer Banks Group) extend their deepest condolences to the families, friends and loved ones affected by this tragedy," David Hallac, superintendent of the Outer Banks Group, said in a statement.
The Cirrus SR-22 airplane crashed around 5 p.m. Saturday in a wooded area near the airstrip, which is located near the town of Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks.
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Witnesses reported that the airplane was attempting to land at the airport when the aircraft crashed and sparked a fire that caused the plane to burn, according to officials.
The Kill Devil Hills Fire Department and other local fire departments helped to extinguish the flames, but there were no survivors.
Campbell was a decorated lieutenant colonel assigned to the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, according to Stars and Stripes. He had about 19 years of active-duty service and served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2006.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash, and the Federal Aviation Administration was notified.
"We’re here to figure out what happened, why it happened and how we can prevent it from happening again," NTSB investigator Ryan Enders told reporters Sunday.
NTSB expects to release a preliminary crash report within 10 days, though the full investigation into what caused the crash could take between nine months and a year.
The Wright Brothers National Memorial was constructed in the area where Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted "a series of experiments that three years later resulted in the world’s first heavier than air, powered controlled flight," according to NPS.
