The National Transportation Safety Board official expects to have a preliminary report in 10 days determining what caused a private plane to crash in northwest Atlanta Thursday afternoon, killing all four aboard.
Victims included Wei Chen, founder and CEO of Memphis-based Sunshine Enterprise, and Danielle Mitchell, his accountant. She was to be married in March. Officials haven't identified the two other victims.
Investigators were at the crash site on Friday gathering remains from the wreckage and examining the site for ground scars, tree strikes and other evidence to piece together what happened.
“We will look into the man, the machine and the environment,” said Heidi Kemner, a NTSB areosafety investigator.
The flight left Fulton County AIrport shortly after noon Thursday and crashed a few miles away on a football field at English Park, located near Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and I-285.
Kemner would not discuss details about the investigation or about the victims, only saying the flight was headed to Millington, Tenn., a small town just north of Memphis. She said the plane would be taken to another site to be reassembled. A full report should be completed in 18 months, she said.
David Mitchell Jr. and Trevor Berry, relatives of one of the victims, Danielle Mitchell, 32, came to the site Friday morning and spoke briefly about their loved one, a mother of three, who was a passenger on the flight. The woman lived in Memphis, working as an accountant for Wei Chen, family members said, the owner of the plane. She planned to visit Atlanta for Christmas. She was engaged to be married in March.
“She was a brilliant, smart person,” said David Mitchell Jr., her uncle, who lives in the Atlanta area. “She loved her kids and will be missed by her family.”
