NTSB: Alaska Crash Wreckage Sent to Washington, Phoenix

Pieces of the plane that crashed in Alaska July 7 killing two Greenville families have been sent to Washington, D.C. and Phoenix for analysis as investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board continue their inquiry into what caused the accident.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, federal investigators left Alaska Monday after a week spent combing through wreckage at the scene. 

While the pieces undergo further analysis, the deHavilland DHC-3 Otter's engine already has been sent to its manufacturer, Honeywell, for study, NTSB officials said.

The air taxi, which was carrying nine members of the Antonakos and McManus families of Greenville to a bear-viewing lodge, crashed and burned in Soldotna, Alaska shortly after takeoff, killing both families along with pilot Walter Rediske.

NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said Wednesday the federal agency won't release any new information until a preliminary crash report comes out, probably within the next 10 days. The accident is the most devastating plane crash to hit Alaska in more than a decade.