The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a weekend plane crash in Florida that killed a family from Georgia.
Nathan Enders, his wife Laura and their two sons, Jaden and Eli, died in the crash, confirmed Clay Connolly, the deputy chief of police in Williston, Fla.
Nathan Enders was an air traffic controller who worked at the FAA Terminal Radar Approach Control in Peachtree City, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The family lived in Williamson, which is southwest of Griffin.
Although the plane, a 1948 Cessna 170 registered in Texas to Nathan Enders, crashed at Williston Municipal Airport about 3:10 p.m. Saturday, the family wasn’t discovered until Sunday.
Officials said more than 20 planes flew out of the airport Saturday.
Megan Sabol, Nathan's sister, is collecting donations via GoFundMe.
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It could take authorities several months to determine what caused the crash, NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.
What officials do know is that the plane refueled somewhere in Georgia at 11:30 a.m. and arrived at Williston airport about three hours later, Connolly said. Williston is about 105 miles northwest of Orlando.
The plane tried to take off shortly after 3 p.m., but it crashed just beyond the end of the north side of the taxiway, Connolly said.
An emergency locator transmitter continued to send radio signals that should have been noticed by pilots within 2 or 3 miles, he told the Gainesville Sun in Florida.
However, no one alerted police until 1:12 p.m. Sunday, he said.
“This,” Connolly told the newspaper, “is really a huge complacency issue.”
Investigators will continue to go through medical records, maintenance records, radar data and air traffic control communication. They wrapped up preliminary work Monday before moving the aircraft to a secure facility.
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