Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said an investigation into a plane crash that killed four people in Southwest Miami-Dade could take several months.
On Thursday, clean up crews removed the remains of the airplane.
NTSB investigator Robert Gretz held a news conference Thursday, a day after the small twin-engine plane crashed near the intersection of Krome Avenue and SW 144th Street. Four people on board the flight were killed.
The plane was airborne only a short time after taking off from nearby Miami Executive Airport.
"Shortly after takeoff the pilot reported an engine problem," Gretz said. "Witnesses observed the airplane was low and banking, turning when it struck a utility pole and came to rest in a field."
Twin Engine Aircraft Accidents in Florida Since 2010
Gretz said it could take six months or longer to determine the exact cause of the crash. Investigators were at the scene Thursday documenting the wreckage so it can be moved.
The Beechcraft 1900 had taken off from the Miami Executive Airport earlier Wednesday and was headed for Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands when it crashed around 2:30 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Gretz said about 50 percent of the plane was consumed by fire and a large section of the cabin was also consumed.
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A friend of the family told NBC 6 that the pilot of the flight was Captain Raul Chirivella, 52. Also on the plane was copilot Roberto Cavaniel along with Juan Carlos Betancourt. All three were from Venezuela.
A fourth person hasn't been identified.
The plane's flight manual lists the maximum gross takeoff weight at 16,950 pounds but NBC 6 has learned that the aircraft's weight may have contributed to the tragedy.
An aviation source told NBC 6 that an airport worker witnessed the plane's nose strut fully extended during taxi, indicating a heavy load at the rear of the plane.
But the owner of the aircraft said the plane was in South Florida for maintenance and that it wasn't overweight and as far as the owner knbew, it didn't have any cargo on board.
