The small plane crash that killed former NFL tight end Russ Francis and another man at an Adirondack Mountains airport occurred after the craft's engine apparently lost power, a federal investigator said Tuesday.
Francis, 70, and Richard McSpadden, 63, had just taken off from the Lake Placid Airport on Sunday afternoon in a single-engine Cessna 177 when the plane encountered trouble. The plane, which has two steering columns, had turned around in an attempt to land, officials said.
