TOPPING, Va. (AP) — A federal report says neither mechanical nor structural problems caused a Middlesex County plane crash that killed the pilot and a passenger.

The 1968 Cessna 150 crashed Sunday in Topping, killing 58-year-old pilot Stephen L. Myers of Christiansburg and 48-year-old passenger Misty Dawn McIntyre of Newport.

A preliminary report National Transportation Safety Board said witnesses told investigators that the plane was flying very low near Hummel Field Airport in Saluda and wouldn’t gain altitude.

The Roanoke Times reports (http://bit.ly/1w9Ffz6 ) that the report also said the single-engine plane made two landing attempts before it nosedived to the ground, forming an 8-inch-deep crater.

Two engine monitoring instruments were removed from the cockpit and sent to the NTSB Recorders Laboratory for download.

The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting in the investigation.

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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com

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