Plainville Plane Crash Pilot: 'We Have No Engines. I Need Help'

PLAINVILLE (CBS) — Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a small plane to slam into a home in Plainville Sunday, killing all three people on board.

According to radio transmissions between the pilot and the airport tower operator, it appears there was an issue with at least one engine before the crash.

The victims of the crash have been identified as Tennessee physician Dr. Joseph Kalister, his wife Betty, and their college-aged daughter. They were reportedly headed to Boston for a college visit.

"We've lost our control," Kalister is heard over the radio saying. "We've got problems with the engine."

The tower operator recommended the pilot turn around and land at the nearest airport in Rhode Island.

The pilot asked for directions and said, "I can't do anything. I can't see anything."

"We got a real bad vibration. We're losing engines. We have no engines," the pilot said. "I need help"

The tower instructed the pilot to try to land on Interstate 495. The pilot told the tower they were gliding, and then the transmission went silent.

A family of four inside the home - Aaron Rice, his wife, their two sons and their pets – escaped safely.  The two boys were upstairs at the time of the crash.

The home is near a quarry, and Rice said they're used to hearing explosions.

"It's happened enough times it desensitizes you to the idea of the house shaking it wasn't until we saw flames that we really realized what was going on," Rice told reporters Monday. "The house above my kids' rooms was on fire when I came outside."

The family spent the night at a neighbor's home.

He encouraged everyone to focus on the plane crash victims.

"We are okay, we will come back from this" Rice said.

The Beechcraft BE36 had left Lancaster Airport in Pennsylvania and was headed to Norwood Airport when it went down around 4:45 p.m.

"It was like thunder shook the house, kind of like an earthquake feeling," one witness told WBZ-TV.

"It was very low, barely over the trees," said another witness.

One neighbor thought the plane was trying to land in the street.

The plane ended up in back of the large two-story colonial home.  A part of its tail and a burnt wing were still in the yard Monday.

It took about three hours to put out the fire in the home.

The NTSB said Monday that a preliminary report on the crash will be available in 10 to 14 days, and witness statements will be especially important.

"The investigation is very young and it's also very broad at this time," NTSB investigator Doug Brazy said.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports

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• Karen Twomey