NTSB releases preliminary report on Mesquite plane crash

MESQUITE, Texas - A small plane that crashed in Mesquite last month was only in the air for about 30 seconds and did not send a distress signal, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Mesquite Plane Crash

What we know:

A Cessna 525A airplane took off from Mesquite Metro Airport just after 7:30 a.m. on March 13 on its way to Addison Airport when it crashed in a heavily wooded area.

The plane was supposed to pick up passengers in Addison and fly to an undisclosed location, the report states.

The NTSB report states the plane climbed to around 500 feet above ground level before it started to go back down around 24 seconds into the flight.

The Mesquite Fire Department confirmed the plane went down in a wooded area between a neighborhood and a church near Lawson and Clay Mathis roads. It then burst into flames.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot had a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single- and multi-engine land and instrument airplane. The pilot reported around 6,800 total flight hours in a Dec. 8, 2023, medical report, the NTSB said.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office identified the pilot as 48-year-old Eric Forsythe, Jr. 

The NTSB report states that the airplane had a flight time of 31 seconds and the pilot had radio communication with Mesquite's control tower.

The plane was filled with 224 gallons of fuel just before taking off from Mesquite. The report states the plane should have taken a left turn on its climb, but instead turned right and was still turning right when it crashed. There were no reports of smoke or fire coming from the airplane as it went down.

Video and images shared by FOX 4 viewers showed the plane taking a nose dive at what looked like full speed. A black cloud of smoke followed.

Responding firefighters worked to put out spot fires.

NTSB investigators said debris was spread across a 450-foot path.

All major components, including the cockpit voice recorder and the Full Authority Digital Engine Control, were recovered.

Investigators said the engine modules were sent to the manufacturer for data download.