The National Transportation Safety Board has shared a preliminary report as it investigates a plane crash that killed a pilot on Cape Cod earlier this month.
Christopher Burroughs, a 60-year-old man from Attleboro, Massachusetts, was the only person on board the Cessna 172N when it crashed at Provincetown Municipal Airport on Jan. 4. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The NTSB said the plane was owned and operated by Brockton Flying Club, based at Taunton Municipal Airport, where it departed at 2:06 p.m.
The airport manager in Provincetown said the pilot reported being inbound to Runway 7 at 2:30 p.m., but that he was informed the airport would be closed for the next 15 minutes for snow removal.
The pilot acknowledged this, and the flight was tracked heading toward Marshfield Municipal Airport, the NTSB said. It approached that airport at 2:47 and climbed away three minutes later.
According to the NTSB, the pilot told Provincetown Municipal Airport at 3 p.m. that he was inbound to land at Runway 25. That was his last communication before his altitude fluctuated, with surveillance footage showing the plane climbing slightly and suddenly descending.
Marks where the plane impacted the ground were found 2,020 feet from the runway, with investigators connecting them to its landing gear, propellor and the underside of its fuselage.
“Another ground scar was located 18 ft to the right of the nose landing gear impact signature consistent with right wingtip contact,” the NTSB added.
The aircraft was fully engulfed in flames by the time police and fire crews arrived. The NTSB said this fire caused significant damage to the central part of the plane.
The preliminary report did not identify the cause of the crash.
