TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Aviation authorities have released further details of the cause of a small plane crash in Tampa that killed three people.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board say the plane hit an antenna after taking off Thursday at Vandenburg Airport and crashed about 100 feet off the runway. The antenna is used to help pilots in instrument-guided landings.
It had been raining, but investigators say weather was not a factor.
An examination of the debris was expected Sunday.
The victims are identified as 49-year-old Patricia Snyder, a cancer patient, who was being flown to a hospital. Also killed was the pilot, 81-year-old Harlan Northcott, and another passenger, 15-year-old Tyler McLellan.