Alamogordo, New Mexico – The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the plane crash near Alamogordo that killed two men last month. Investigators say the American Aviation AA-1A aircraft hit treetops before crashing into a rocky slope about 6,300 feet above sea level. The wreckage was consumed by fire, but all major components were found at the site.
The crash happened November 26 after the plane departed Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport. The victims were 40-year-old pilot Patrick Cheung and his fiancée’s father, 73-year-old Ralph Guerin. Cheung had recently purchased the plane and earned his private pilot certificate about a month before the accident.
The FAA issued an alert notice for the missing aircraft on November 26, and New Mexico State Police located the wreckage the next morning about seven miles east of the airport. The NTSB says the investigation is ongoing.
