NTSB: Witness heard plane's engine quit before fatal MacArthur Airport crash

Witnesses to the fatal crash of a small plane Monday at Long Island MacArthur Airport shortly after takeoff told investigators they heard the aircraft's single engine sputter and quit before it nose-dived into the ground from about 100 feet, NTSB officials said Tuesday.

The 1973 Beechcraft Bonanza A36 took off from runway 24 about 6:15 p.m. — the last time airport officials communicated with the pilot, said Aaron McCarter, an accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, during a news conference at the airport. 

The plane had climbed to between about 100 and 150 feet before abruptly plunging straight down, nose and propeller first, McCarter said. It crashed about 100 feet from the runway, McCarter said. There were no mayday calls back to the control tower, he said.

"We have three credible witnesses, who all reported the same thing. They saw the airplane take off and everything looked perfectly normal," McCarter said. "Then the witnesses stated they heard popping and sputtering, with one witness in particular saying the engine stopped producing power at that point. The airplane ... promptly took a nosedive and crashed into the terrain."

McCarter said there was no indication the pilot was attempting to land.

Police had earlier identified him as Christopher Kucera, 46, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and his passenger as Zachary Hatcher, 43, of King George, Virginia. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. 

Kucera and Hatcher were the only people aboard the plane, which was registered to Kucera, officials said.

After the crash, Southwest Airlines canceled three inbound arrivals Monday, an airline spokesman said Tuesday. That resulted in the cancellation of Southwest's first three flights Tuesday because those aircraft did not spend the night at MacArthur as scheduled.

At least 13 flights were canceled Tuesday with others delayed.

Investigators from the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration began moving the wreckage to a hangar across from the airport Tuesday evening and the runway reopened, McCarter said.

The plane had been registered to Kucera since 2009, most recently out of King George, according to FlightAware.com. The Beechcraft had flown Wednesday from Fredericksburg to Provincetown, Massachusetts, according to the website. It then landed Saturday afternoon at MacArthur. That was the last flight before the fatal takeoff two days later.

Tributes began pouring in Tuesday for the two victims — Kucera, described as an aviation enthusiast and co-founder of OneSky, an aerospace software company headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania — and Hatcher, Kucera's partner as well as a philanthropist and supporter of charitable causes.

On his personal website, Kucera said he enjoyed "flying my 1973 Bonanza up and down the East Coast." Kucera posted a photo online of the same plane in 2021, talking about flying his family to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in his Bonanza, "eight niner whiskey," the name of his tail number.

Hatcher had recently been named CEO of the Fredericksburg-based Community Foundation.

"Zach was poised to start as Chief Executive Officer of the foundation in August, bringing his proven abilities and dedication to our mission," the organization posted on its Instagram page.

"The couple brought spirit to our community and their absence will leave a void."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.