NTSB reveal new findings in Northeast Philadelphia plane crash

Source: Matthew Hatcher / Getty

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report for the Northeast Philadelphia plane crash on Jan. 31 that left seven people dead.

RELATED: [VIDEO] Plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia leaves multiple houses on fire, causes explosion

According to the report, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), commonly known as the ‘black box, was not recording during the flight and likely hadn’t recorded audio for several years.

The CVR — which was buried eight feet underground by the impact of the crash — had “significant impact-related damage,” according to the report . It was repaired and cleaned, but investigators were unable to gather much from it.

Investigators have sent any remaining parts of the plane were sent back to the manufacturer to identify the issue.

“The EGPWS computer, which may contain flight data in its nonvolatile memory, was shipped to the manufacturer’s facility for evaluation and to determine whether any relevant flight data could be recovered,” the NTSB wrote. “At the time of the writing of this report, that evaluation was ongoing.”

Investigators said there were no distress calls received from the flight crew.

The entire flight was less than one minute as the plane made a steep descent and crashed near the Roosevelt Mall in a very densely populated area of the city.

Multiple homes and businesses were damaged in the area of Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard following the crash, fire officials said.

Grants are available for small businesses damaged in the crash. The grants max out at $20,000.