Pilot struggled to start one engine before crashing into Riverside neighborhood, investigators say

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An NTSB agent watches as a small hoist lifts a propeller out of the front-yard wreckage the day after a small plane crashed into a Riverside home, killing three people.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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An NTSB agent lifts yellow police tape as Riverside Animal Control officers carry an animal’s body from a home the day after a small plane crashed, killing three people.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A propeller from the plane sits on the roof as an NTSB agent investigates the scene the day after a small plane crashed into a Riverside home.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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An NTSB agent photographs wreckage in a front yard the day after a plane crashed into a Riverside home, killing three.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside city firefighters push a resident in a wheelchair to her home three houses down from where a plane crashed.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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An NTSB agent puts a piece of wreckage on a flat bed truck across the street from where a small plane crashed into a Riverside home.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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NTSB Air Safety Investigator Stephen Stein speaks during a news conference at Riverside Municipal Airport the day after a small plane crashed into a home in the city, killing three of five people aboard the aircraft.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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NTSB and Riverside fire investigators examine the scene of a small plane crash that killed three people and destroyed two homes Monday evening in Riverside.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators look over the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in Riverside on Monday, killing three people and destroying two homes.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A propeller lies on the roof of a Riverside home after a plane crash Monday evening that killed three people and destroyed two homes.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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NTSB and Riverside fire investigators look over the scene of a small plane crash in a residential neighborhood.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside firefighters battle heavy smoke after three people were killed when a plane crashed into a house on Rhonda Road in Riverside on Monday afternoon.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Associated Press

March 9, 2017 10:15 AM PT

Reporting from Riverside —

The pilot of a small plane that crashed in Southern California last month had difficulty starting one engine before takeoff, a preliminary report by investigators says.

Three people were killed initially in the Feb. 27 crash in Riverside, and one of two survivors died Tuesday.

The report Wednesday by National Transportation Safety Board investigators says the pilot started the right engine of the Cessna T310Q and made several unsuccessful attempts to start the left engine before it began running.

The plane departed for San Jose and began a left turn as it entered clouds. Video then showed the plane descending in a slight left-wing-low attitude about a mile from the airport.

The preliminary report cites a number of other facts about the flight but draws no conclusions about what caused the crash.

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