The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report regarding S.C. Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer's plane crash in Blacksburg.

Bauer, and his co-pilot, 77year-old John Leonhardt, were both injured in the 6:30 p.m. crash on May 23.

Bauer, 37, and Leonhardt were taking off from a privately owned dirt runway in Blacksburg near Highway 198 and Whites Farm Road after paying respects to the late Margaret D. Moorhead.

According to the preliminary report, they were headed to the Columbia Downtown Airport and were traveling between 17 and 23 miles an hour during takeoff.

The runway is 1,400 feet long and 80 feet wide.

The Mooney M20E fixedwing single-engine aircraft requires a runway length of 1,100 feet, according to Cindi Roth, manager of marketing and communications for the Mooney Airplane Company, who cited the company's published pilot handbook.

A friend and witness to the crash told NTSB officials that Bauer and Leonhardt arrived in Blacksburg at approximately 5 p.m. They returned to the aircraft and conducted a pre-flight inspection and attempted to turn the plane around before starting the engine. After failing to turn the aircraft around by hand, they started the engine and turned the plane around, according to the report.

The witness told authorities he heard the pilot conduct an engine "run up" and watched as the plane began its takeoff roll at 6:30 p.m.

"The witness stated it appeared that the tail tiedown ring contacted the ground," the report states. "The airplane became airborne, cleared the trees, rolled to the right and disappeared from view. The witness heard two impact sounds and he called the emergency 9-1-1 operators to report the accident."

The report further states that the witness went to the crash scene and saw that the plane had collided with trees and power lines, had landed in a creek bed and was engulfed in flames. The passenger exited the airplane and other persons who had arrived at the crash scene assisted the pilot out of the airplane, according to the report.

The Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB investigation will likely take about a year to complete, said Lauren Peduzzi, NTSB spokesperson.

The NTSB will issue the final determination in the cause of the crash.

The plane was owned by Bunk Aviation LLC in Columbia.