RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal authorities say a veterinarian who died along with his wife when the plane he was piloting crashed in North Carolina was having trouble seeing the runway on a nighttime approach.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the Oct. 20 crash that killed Harvey and Patricia Partridge of Terra Ceia, Florida. Their plane crashed near Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
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The report says Partridge was within a few miles of the airport when he told air controllers he saw "lots of lights" but not the runway. Shortly after, Partridge said he could see only the beacon, so runway lights were turned up. He finally told a controller he had the runway in sight shortly before controllers lost communication.
The preliminary report doesn't make final conclusions about the crash.