NTSB: No distress call before fatal Minn. crash

Federal investigators say there was no distress call from the pilot before a small airplane crashed in southeastern Minnesota, killing three men from the Detroit area.

The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the Nov. 1 crash near the Houston County Airport.

The report says the twin-engine Piper PA-23-250 was coming from Michigan and crashed into a soybean field about 590 feet northeast of the runway.

No one witnessed the crash. A farmer discovered the wreckage.

Killed in the crash were Joel Alan Garrett, 79, of Troy, Mich.; Dale Edward Garrett, 49, of Berkley, Mich.; and John Paul Bergeron, 50, of Birmingham, Mich. A fourth person was injured.

WKBT-TV reports the NTSB has not released any further information about the cause of the crash.

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