NTSB Report Says Plane’s Engine Made ‘Pop Pop’ Noises Before Fatal Crash in Keene

Nov. 3—A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board on last month's fatal plane crash in Keene says neither of the two men on board placed a distress call before the aircraft went down, with a witness saying they heard "pop pop" noises as it flew past.

The Federal Aviation Administration previously reported a single-engine Beechcraft Sierra aircraft crashed into a building north of Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene just before 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21. City officials said no one was injured in the building.

The two men killed in the crash were identified as Lawrence Marchiony and Marvin David Dezendorf. Marchiony, 41, is from Baldwinville, Mass., and Dezendorf is from Townshend, Vermont, according to a news release.

The two men were both pilot-rated, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB) said last month.

Tim Monville, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB said the aircraft took off from Runway 2, located roughly a half mile from the crash site, and communications indicate the pilot intended to remain in a traffic pattern but did not specify his exact intentions.

"That was recorded audio. One of the occupants (of the plane) said that," Monville said. "When I say around the pattern, you're basically flying a circuit around the runway, to either do an approach or do a landing. I don't know what their intention was, so I can't expand upon that."

There were no communications mentioning problems with the plane, Monville said.

In the NTSB's preliminary report, released Thursday, several witnesses at Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport — one of whom was a pilot and the other a pilot and airframe and powerplant mechanic — reported the engine sounded "abnormal," with the pilot witness saying that it "never sounded smooth during the entire time the airplane was on the runway or while airborne."

The pilot-rated mechanic reported that when the flight was airborne along the runway, he heard "a momentary power reduction, followed by a power advance."

According to the report, witnesses observed the plane in "a very shallow climb," rising no higher than about 200 feet over ground level about 5,200 feet down the runway, with only about 1,000 feet of runway left. Other witnesses reported "the poor engine sound continued."

A witness located about a half nautical mile north-northeast from the departure end of Runway 2 reported the airplane was flying "not much higher" than 50 feet above ground level when it flew by him.

"He reported hearing 'pop pop' sounds, then the airplane began descending and the engine sound became louder, but the popping sound stopped when the flight was descending," the report stated.

No distress call was made by an occupant of the airplane on the CTAF, according to the NTSB report.

No reason for the crash was included in Thursday's report.

The plane crashed into a garage attached to a two-story apartment building about half a mile north-northeast of the airport, officials said.

Bystanders' photos and videos posted online show a small apartment building engulfed in flames after the crash.

Monville said investigators have video from two different cameras in the area that captured the crash and the ensuing fireball.

People were home when the plane crashed into the building, Keene Fire Department Chief Donald Farquhar said, but no one in the building was hurt.

The fire spread quickly from the crash, and it took firefighters almost two hours to bring the fire under control.

Wreckage consisting of the aft end of the empennage (stabilizing surfaces at the tail of an aircraft), sections of left wing, left and right main landing gear, and engine assembly with the propeller attached were recovered from the crash site and are being held for examination.

Monville said the Keene Fire Department's ladder truck was "instrumental" in helping to recover wreckage from the site.

The plane was owned by Monadnock Aviation, which offers charter flights, and training for people who want to get recreational pilot's licenses.

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