(PHOENIX) A preliminary report released Tuesday about a plane crash earlier in July indicated a wing of the plane fell off before it crashed, killing the two people on-board, azfamily reported.
Jeff Piechura, a retired fire chief who was working for the Coronado National Forest, and Matthew Miller, a pilot contracted by the U.S. Forest Service, died in the crash on July 10.
The plane was responding to a wildfire in northwest Arizona. The Arizona Bureau of Land Management said the plane went down as it was scouting the area and helping aerial resources over a lightning-caused wildfire.
It crashed in mountainous terrain about 15 miles northeast of a town named Wikieup. It burst into flames and debris was scattered over several acres, according to the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The report said the left wing of the plane was found about three-quarters of a mile away from the main wreckage.