Two people were killed in the late-morning crash on Wednesday just outside Merrill Field in Anchorage. The names of the man and woman on board were not released Thursday.
Investigators will be looking for clues to why the Cessna 206 suffered either a partial or total engine failure before going nose-down into a vacant commercial building near the airport, said Larry Lewis, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Given the witness accounts of hearing a marked difference in the sound of the engine just before the crash, Lewis said several scenarios are possible, including that the plane's crankshaft, push rod, or camshaft broke. It also could have lost a cylinder, Lewis said.
Any one of those problems could have caused the engine to fail, he said.
The medical examiner's office said the names of the victims likely would be available Monday. Lewis said investigators determined that no one else was on board the plane.
Lewis said investigators will be looking at the paperwork on the plane and the log books to see if there were any recent maintenance issues. Investigators also will do an "engine teardown" next week in which the engine will be taken apart piece by piece.
Despite the crash and the gas-fed fire that followed, the engine is fairly intact, Lewis said. That will make it easier for investigators to determine if any broken parts resulted from the accident or occurred before the crash.
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