ORLANDO, Fla. — The small plane that crashed in DeLand last month, killing three people, did not pass a recent inspection and was in need of repairs, a mechanic told NTSB investigators in a preliminary report.

The owner bought the two-engine Cessna 421 in June 2019, with plans to make repairs before selling it, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report. The plane had not had been inspected for several years, and no flight plan for the personal flight was filed.

The owner hired a mechanic to conduct an inspection. He told the owner that the left tachometer generator and the fuel gauges did not work, among other items that needed to be repaired or replaced, investigators wrote.

The owner planned that once the work was done and the annual inspection was signed off, the mechanic would find a pilot to fly the plane to Texas, according to the report. The mechanic told the owner he found someone to do it — one of the passengers who died in the crash. The owner told investigators he was not aware anyone was flying the plane that day.

What’s not clear from the report is why a plane that didn’t pass inspection went up in the air. The mechanic told investigators that he hadn't completed the repairs nor signed off on the annual inspection.

The plane, manufactured in 1968, crashed into the woods in DeLand on September 29, about 20 minutes after taking off. The three people inside were killed: Armand Girouard, Ernendro Philippe, and Shawna Carbonaro.

Witnesses on the ground described to investigators the low-flying airplane's engines as sounding "rough" and "sputtering and backfiring," before the plane was seen spiraling downward.

The NTSB’s final report will detail what may have caused the crash. That report could take months to complete.