Five minutes after the Cessna took off, an air controller communicated with the pilot with instructions to ascend and maintain a height of 15,000 feet. However, the controller did not get a response, and no other communications were heard from the plane afterward. According to a CNN report, the radar’s last contact with the Cessna showed that it was traveling at a height of 700 feet and plunging down at a speed of 31,000 feet per minute.

Investigators immediately visited the crash site to determine what might have happened. The Medical Examiner’s Office reported that all the bodies of the deceased were found inside the plane. A crane was used to extract the plane’s engine and debris from the lake. However, the crew had a difficult time locating parts of the plane in the cloudy lake water. In addition, the debris field was estimated to be half a mile wide, which made the recovery efforts more difficult. According to WKRN, the complete investigation could take up to two years to complete.