OCALA, Fla. — No mayday call was placed before a small plane clipped an SUV and crashed Thursday near a shopping center close to I-75 in Ocala, killing two people, investigators say.

Aaron McCarter, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said during a news conference Friday morning that it would be another three days for investigators to be at the crash scene on State Road 200 collecting evidence, and it could be 10 days before a preliminary report would be released.

The 1996 Beechcraft Baron plane involved in the crash was more than 20 years old, did not have a black box, and recently had a fuel-monitoring unit installed.

According to the NTSB, the plane crash was a violent one, but what is unconfirmed at this time is if the recent fuel-monitoring unit installed on the 1996 Baron is what the test flight was for.

“A lot of air plane mechanics may not have the ability to operate the aircraft or fly it in flight, and typically after you do an install of an engine management system, it does require a calibration flight,” said Andrew Chan, COO of Right Rudder Aviation.

The factual report of the crash is expected to come out in 18 months, McCarter said. Members of the NTSB are hoping what’s left of the plane will help them piece together what happened.

The Fatal Crash

The lead investigator into the crash said the 1996 Beechcraft Baron plane took off at about 11:15 a.m. Thursday from Ocala International Airport for a maintenance flight with the pilot and a local mechanic on board.

Witnesses told investigators that right after takeoff, the plane took a left shallow turn back toward the airport, leveled off, and the wings rocked back and forth before the aircraft struck the highway, McCarter said.

The pilot tried to make an emergency landing on S.R. 200 in front of Market Street at Heathbrook when it clipped an SUV, officials said.

No emergency calls were made, but the pilot did want to return to the airport, McCarter said.

Neither the names of the two people killed nor the SUV's driver have been released. The driver of the SUV was in stable condition.

The NTSB will look into the pilot, his training and experience, the plane's condition, and the weather, McCarter said.

"They were working on the engines. It was some kind of issue with the fuel monitoring unit. We do have information they replaced the fuel monitoring unit. The mechanic rode along with the pilot typically to observe the unit working. At this time, that's all we know," he said.

Ocala resident Saul Quinones said he saw the plane teeter in the air.

"It could've been a lot worse than what it was. I feel bad for the two people on board that lost their lives. A lot of other people could've lost their lives if he would've hit the apartment building. It could've been very scary," Quinones said.

S.R. 200 was shut down for hours as NTSB and the FAA began their investigation.

McCarter urged anyone who witnessed the crash to contact the NTSB at witness@NTSB.gov.