NTSB: Plane involved in deadly crash had maintenance issues

SEGUIN, Texas (AP) — A small plane that crashed near San Antonio last month, killing two people and a dog, was having engine trouble before takeoff, federal investigators said Thursday.

The single-engine Piper PA-28-235 crashed and burned shortly after takeoff from a private airstrip four miles (6.44 kilometers) southwest of Seguin on July 22, officials said. Killed in the crash were pilot Kenneth Francis Chenevert, 67, of Seguin; passenger Jacqueline Nicole Meziere, 45, of Natchitoches, Louisiana; and a small dog, Justice of the Peace Darrell Hunter told the Seguin Gazette.

In a preliminary report issued Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board said Meziere told a friend in a video call before takeoff for Natchitoches that she and Chenevert were having unspecified maintenance issues and Chenevert was having trouble starting the engine.

Photos taken at the time also showed problems with a latch on an engine cowling.

An examination of the wreckage revealed no apparent mechanical problems, the NTSB said.