UPDATE: The NTSB's preliminary report on the fatal plane crash that happened near Patterson last month.
The first report from federal investigators in fatal plane crashes usually come about 30 days after the incident. The final report, with whatever findings they have about the cause, generally comes 18 to 24 months after the crash.
If you want to read the report for yourself, scroll down.
Two men died in the crash; the St. Mary Parish Coroner's Office identified them as Dean Lee Felterman, 69, of Patterson, and Mufid Jabour, 48, of Denham Springs.
They died when a small private plane crashed into a sugarcane field causing a fire across the street from Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport.
The NTSB reports indicate Jabour was the owner and pilot of the plane, and that Felterman also held a pilot's license. According to the report, Jabour flew to Patterson to pick up Felterman so he could attend a medical appointment in Houston.
The pilot landed at the Patterson airport, refueled, and then was seen getting out of the plane. He seemed to examine something on the left side of the plane, the report states. They took off, and a witness reported that she watched as the plane "titled to the left" then turned on its side and began a nosedive until it crashed into a sugarcane field. She saw an explosion, and then a fire.
"She could not tell if the airplane’s engines were emitting any abnormal noises prior to impact as she was driving at the time, nor did she observe any smoke or flames emit from the airplane prior to impacting the sugarcane field. She additionally reported, that from her position, it did not appear that the airplane was trying to turn around back to the airport," the report states.
The plane crashed about .32 miles from the end of the runway it used to take off, the report states. The wreckage was examined, and investigators found five fractured valve springs in the right engine.
"Examination of the left engine revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures," the report states.
The report also reviewed maintenance records of the plane, and during that review "a customer invoice dated July 20, 2023, was identified, and was noted to include multiple maintenance discrepancies with the airplane that were not resolved within that work order. One of the unresolved discrepancies included, “the right-hand tachometer is not indicating.” The maintenance records indicated that the airframe, the engines, and the propellers had an annual inspection performed on April 1, 2023."
Here's the report:
