New Video Of Deadly New Bedford Plane Crash, Investigators Search For Answers

NEW BEDFORD (CBS) -- Investigators in New Bedford are still digging through plane parts to analyze evidence as to why a small plane crashed in a cemetery there Monday, killing the pilot.

All that is left of the Cessna 150 is now scattered throughout a part Rural Cemetery, located in the middle of the city. Pilot Paul Vidal was killed in the crash. No one else was aboard the plane when it crashed.

Lynn Spencer, the air safety investigator from the NTSB in charge of investigating the crash, said Tuesday that the plane departed the New Bedford Regional Airport at 2:50 p.m. and crashed at 3:31 p.m. She said they do not yet know why the plane was seen doing circles and other maneuvers in the air, and that they do not know whether it was intentional.

Investigators also found no flight plan, Spencer said, but witnesses told them Vidal often took recreational flights around the area of New Bedford that do not require submitting a flight plan for. She also said the Cessna 150 does not have a black box.

Spencer said investigators would be on scene for two days, after which the remains of the plane would be moved. She said a preliminary report should be expected in ten days, with a final report to be expected in 18 to 24 months.

"The NTSB does investigate every civilian airplane crash in the United States," Spencer said. "And our goal is to learn not only what happened but why it happened so that we can prevent similar accidents in the future."

Spencer encouraged any witnesses to the crash to report what they saw or heard to the NTSB on their website.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell released a statement Tuesday afternoon expressing his sympathy for Vidal's family.

"Mr. Vidal was a well-known and respected member of Greater New Bedford's recreational aviation community for many years, where his loss is being felt today," Mitchell said.