Investigation continues after Carver County plane crash that killed 3

The investigation continues into a Saturday plane crash that killed three people in Carver County.

The plane crashed and burst into flames at about 5:40 p.m. Saturday near a home in Victoria, Minn. All three people aboard the plane died; no one on the ground was injured.

National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator Mike Folkerts said the plane was on approach to Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie when it went down.

"The pilot contacted the control tower, then made several heading changes and altitude deviations from a normal, stable flight path while on final," he said at a Sunday news conference broadcast by KARE 11. "The last transmission was about 10 miles from the airport."

Folkerts said the contact with the control tower was routine, pre-landing communication; there was no distress call from the pilot.

Folkerts said some parts from the tail of the plane — pieces of the left elevator and left horizontal stabilizer — were found a couple blocks from the rest of the wreckage, indicating they fell off while in flight.

"Without an elevator and a horizontal stabilizer, the aircraft is not flyable," he said.

There was no "black box" on the plane, but Folkerts said investigators should be able to access some engine data.

Weather at the time of the crash was overcast with a 1,100-foot ceiling, he said, with 9 miles visibility.

A preliminary investigative report is expected in about two weeks; a full report takes 12 to 18 months.