Mechanic warned of ‘engine anomaly’ before deadly plane crash in Suffolk, report says

A plane that crashed in Suffolk this month — killing two people — should not have been flown because of an “engine anomaly,” according to a preliminary report.

The small passenger plane crashed Jan. 7 off Carolina Road, sparking a large brush fire that threatened nearby homes. The pilot received his license in November, according to a report from National Transportation Safety Board. In the days before the crash, he contacted a mechanic at Northeast Regional Airport in Edenton, North Carolina, about problems with the engine during a magneto check — an inspection of the entire ignition system.

After an initial look at the engine, the mechanic removed the spark plugs, cleaned them and checked for resistance. He found that two had very high resistance and one fired “a little weak,” the report states. The mechanic replaced those three spark plugs and reinstalled the five others in the engine Jan. 4. When the pilot arrived later that day, the two ran the engine and problems became more apparent.

“As soon as the pilot ran the engine, the mechanic knew ‘right away’ that the new spark plugs did not correct the problem as the engine was ‘skipping,’” the report reads. “The pilot shut down the engine and the mechanic informed the pilot that the airplane was not to be flown until he could investigate further, and he would most likely be able to do so on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.

“At the time of the accident, the airplane had not been released from maintenance as the mechanic had not had an opportunity to further investigate the engine anomaly.”

On Jan. 7, the pilot took the plane on a “a short (40 nautical miles) cross-country flight to get lunch at a restaurant at Suffolk Executive Airport,” the report continues. Flight track information showed the plane was traveling at an altitude of about 1,000 feet and was about 5 miles south of the airport just before the crash. The airplane then descended rapidly and impacted terrain.

A witness reported she was in a car and observed the plane in a nosedive. At that time, there were two spiral trails of black smoke, about 5-10 feet behind the plane. She did not observe any fire from the plane before impact.

The crash caused a large area of trees and brush to catch fire. The “rapidly-progressing” fire was spreading across roughly 35 acres of open field and forest, according to a release from Suffolk Fire & Rescue. All residents were safely evacuated.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com