Pilot Michael Buxton and his two passengers were minutes from touching down at Norfolk International Airport after a long flight from Florida when something went terribly wrong.
The fog was thick early on the morning of March 4. Buxton was originally scheduled to land at a small airport in Suffolk. Instead, he was trying to finally touch down in Norfolk.
Even landing in Norfolk--a large airport with more advance equipment--was difficult. Buxton radioed the control tower in Norfolk that his navigational equipment wasn't working and he would need to be given turn-by-turn instructions to the runway.
About 1.5 miles out, Buxton made a transmission to the tower. It would be the last communication the tower had with him.
At 4:15 a.m., the airport lost contact with the single engine, four-seat aircraft.
According to the radio transmissions from LiveATC.Net, an air traffic controller said, "I think we just had an aircraft go down two miles northwest of Norfolk International Airport. He was on final approach, had the field in sight, he was cleared to land. I'm not in communication with him now. He was two miles northwest of the field."
According to Flightaware.com, a Mooney M20 took off from Palatka, Florida just before midnight Tuesday bound for Suffolk Executive Airport. It was due in at 3:23 a.m., but the Website showed the plane in the air until 4:12 a.m. near Norfolk International.
Norfolk Fire-Rescue, Norfolk Police, Virginia Beach Fire, Virginia Beach EMS, Virginia Port Authority, United States Coast Guard, Navy Regional Fire and Norfolk International Airport Fire all began search efforts to find the missing plane.
The effort to locate the small four-seater, single engine aircraft was delayed by weather.
The Coast Guard had hoped to get a helicopter to search the area of Little Creek Harbor, but the foggy conditions delayed that effort.
The wreckage was located in a wooded area around 7:20 a.m. by airport police. The three victims were in the plane.
It was upside down in the Enchanted Forest section of the garden off Azalea Garden Road. That area is at the north end of the garden and offers views of Lake Whitehurst.
"Visibilities along the coast were down below a mile at the time the plane went missing," said 13News Now Meteorologist Craig Moeller.
State troopers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The NTSB will determine a probable cause of the crash, said FAA spokesman Jim Peters.
Virginia State Police have said the airplane clipped a tree while trying to land at the airport, causing it to flip upside down and crash.
Beauchamp told the Associated Press that Buxton was a friend and lived in Portsmouth. He said Buxton and two friends were coming home from Key West, where Buxton kept a sailboat, the Dream Weaver.
Beauchamp also said his plane was in good mechanical condition and called Buxton "a very conscientious, qualified pilot."
Buxton worked as a clinical psychologist, who had a passion for helping children, according close friends.
"He just couldn't seem to give enough," said Joe Mullen, a longtime friend of Buxton. "He was good with kids, he did that because he had a big heart."
Ted Reinhardt from Buffalo, NY was identified as one of Buxton's two passengers. He was a popular local musician (drummer) and was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 1985.
The other passenger was 60-year old William Shaver, Va. State Police confirmed Thursday.
Following the crash, the precision approach path indicator for runway 23 was placed out of service at the FAA's request so it could be checked, Norfolk International Airport Deputy Executive Director Robert Bowen confirmed to 13News Now.com.
"It checked out ok," he stressed.
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on scene around 3 p.m. to take over the investigation.
In a press conference Wednesday evening, the NTSB said it will look for ways to understand what happened in this accident to recommend ways to prevent future accidents
The organization has ATC experts and meteorological experts who will assist in investigation.
The NTSB also noted there was no flight data recorded or cockpit voice recorder on the plane.
On Friday, the Norfolk Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that the three victims died of "multiple-blunt trauma," and the cause was accidental.
The NTSB expected to release a preliminary report in 10 days and the full accident report in 9-12 months.
The Norfolk Botanical Garden reopened 10 a.m. Friday for the first time since Wednesday's crash.
The city allowed media access to the crash site, located in the Enchanted Forest section.
A line of oak trees had been visibily sheared by the crashing plane.
The wreckage was put on a truck and removed from the Botanical Garden Thursday afternoon.
Dennis Diaz with the National Transportation Safety Board said it will be transported to a secure crash recovery site in Delaware.
The Norfolk Botanical Garden released a statement calling the incident one of the worst days they've had at the garden.
"We are now open to offer our Garden, once again, as a place of beauty, reflection and healing," NBG President and CEO Michael Desplains said in the statement. "Hug your families tonight, call your loved ones, and be kind to strangers. Life is indeed too short."
