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VERDEL, Neb. (AP) — Government investigators say one of the engines on a plane that crashed in northeast Nebraska last summer shook violently shortly after takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a recent report that pilot Richard Nielsen tried to land in a field near his private airstrip because he thought the right engine might fall off. But something went wrong and the plane caught fire after impact.
Nielsen's passenger, Dan Johnson from Lynch, Neb., was Killed in the crash near Verdel.
Investigators have not said what caused the engine vibration and power failure, but Nielsen told them a connecting rod may have failed.
Investigators have said Nielsen was licensed only for single-engine planes, not the multiengine Beech TC-45J he was flying.
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