Cape Plane That Crashed Took Off Again After Failed Landing: NTSB

PROVINCETOWN, MA — The Cape Air plane that crashed in Provincetown and injured seven people couldn't land safely and tried to take off again before it struck trees and crashed into the woods, according to a crash report released Monday by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials.

Everyone on board, including the pilot, suffered serious injuries and were taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. Four people were later transferred to Boston hospitals. There were no fatalities.

Cape Air Flight 2072 was "traveling a little faster than it should" have when the pilot tried landing at Provincetown Municipal Airport around 3:30 p.m., according to the crash report. The flight was coming from Logan Airport in Boston amid stormy weather.

The report said air traffic control cleared the flight for landing on runway seven. Another Cape Air pilot was holding short of runway 25, while waiting for the plane to land. That pilot said he received a call from the pilot that later crashed to ask if the airport lights were on. He told the pilot the lights were on, visibility improved, and the rain had subsided, the report said.

The plane then landed about halfway down the 3,502-foot runway. When it came into view of the pilot on the ground, it was clear the plane didn't have enough room to stop, the report said. This forced the landing plane to take off again, but its climb back into the sky was slow. According to the report, rain was down pouring when the place crashed.

"The airplane cleared the localizer antennas at the far end of the runway, then the perimeter fence, before it struck trees,"according to the pilot on the ground cited in the crash report. "The airplane disappeared into the trees, and he then saw a ball of flames."

The plane came to a stop about 200 feet from where it struck the trees, the report said. Flames continued burning on both wings after the crash. After extinguishing the flames, emergency officials inspected the plane and found that all major components were accounted for. Investigators later hauled the plane away on Sept. 11.

The preliminary crash report did not say what caused the crash. NTSB officials said a cause may not be identified for 12 to 18 months.

The pilot, who wasn't named in the report, holds several pilot and instructor certifications for both single and multi-engine planes. According to the report, the pilot had logged 17,617 flight hours, 10,000 of which were in the Cessna 403 that crashed.