HIGHLANDS, N.C. -- A preliminary report indicates that a small plane that crashed last month in western North Carolina had lost an engine, its tail and part of a wing before it went down.

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911 Crash Calls Released

Plane Crashes Near Highlands NC

NTSB Report

The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators think the plane fell straight down because few of the surrounding trees were damaged.

A witness said that he saw an engine separate from the plane before the crash, and that the plane came down in at least three separate pieces.

The plane crashed just outside the city limits of Highlands on July 29.

The NTSB report said that the left wing and tail section both separated from the plane before the crash and were found more than a quarter mile from the main wreckage. The left engine was found in a creek about a half mile away.

Officials said the pilot and his son were headed from Louisville, Ky., to a small airport south of Atlanta. Their plane crashed on a hill, barely missing several nearby homes.

The victims were identified as Duane Anthony Moorer Sr., 49, and Duane Anthony Moorer Jr., 22, of Miramar, Fla.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials were at the crash site, searching the wreckage for clues into what caused the plane to go down.

NTSB investigators said that Moorer and his son were both certified pilots and that the plane had recently been purchased by Midwest Atlantic Inc. of Miramar, Fla.

NTSB investigator Jim Demko said the report was based on witness interviews, air traffic records and the on-site investigation.

A final report is expected in six to nine months.