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NTSB preliminary report says plane attempted to make U-turn before crashing in Chickamauga Lake

Private contractors on Friday recover the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in Chickamauga Lake on Monday, January 7, 2019. / Contributed photo by Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Public Relations Division Private contractors on Friday recover the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in Chickamauga Lake on Monday, January 7, 2019. / Contributed photo by Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Public Relations Division

By Staff Report February 12, 2019 4 min read

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Plane crash report

Siblings, Alaina Marinello and Christopher Marinello are photographed with a photo of their mom and dad, Lynda and Chris Marinello, Sunday, February 3, 2019 at Alaina's Chattanooga, Tenn., home. Lynda was the passenger in a plane crash in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., earlier this year. Both Lynda and a family friend, Captain Frank W. Davey, who was the pilot, died in the crash.

A preliminary report from the NTSB offers some new details about January’s fatal plane crash in Soddy-Daisy, but what exactly contributed to the plane’s downfall remains unclear.

A witness told federal investigators that the aircraft made a U-turn at low altitude before plummeting into Chickamauga Lake near Camp Vesper Point just after 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, according to the report released on Feb. 8 by the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates all civil aviation crashes.

Pilot Frank Davey, 67, and his passenger, Lynda Marinello, 55, were killed on impact.

Their remains were recovered from the wreckage days later on Jan. 10, and the plane itself was brought up the next day.

The flight originated from Dallas Bay Sky Park, according to the report, and Times Free Press news partner WRCB News Channel 3 reported airport officials said the plane was taking a “scenic flight” and was not headed to another city.