The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday released a preliminary investigation report into a plane crash last month at Long Island MacArthur Airport, noting that several witnesses heard a “sputtering” and a “loud bang” before the single-engine Beechcraft A36 rolled left and crashed just off the end of Runway 24, killing two Virginia men.

The report did not specify the focus of the investigation. In a statement on Monday, the NTSB told Newsday: “The preliminary report contains only facts. It does not contain an analysis.”

The crash on July 22 occurred around 6:15 p.m. and killed pilot Christopher Kucera, 46, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and his passenger Zachary Hatcher, 43, of King George, Virginia.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, officials said.

The NTSB report states that part of the takeoff roll of the 1973 Beechcraft Bonanza low-wing aircraft was captured on surveillance video. It goes on to say: “Surveillance video from a camera in the airport terminal shows the airplane making a takeoff roll, takeoff, and initial climb, all of which appeared normal. The landing gear was retracted before the airplane disappeared from the camera’s view.”

Information obtained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from so-called Preliminary Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data shows that the takeoff run was about 1,200 feet (360 meters) long before the plane took off and that ground speed during the initial climb was about 82 knots – or 95 mph (152 km/h).

However, according to the NTSB, immediately after the landing gear was retracted, ground speed began to “continuously decrease” and was only 62 knots – or about 71 miles per hour – before the Bonanza began a “downward turn to the left” and impacted a grassy area near the end of the runway.

The NTSB report states of the crash site: “The initial impact and ground scar consisted of an 8-foot-long gouge in the grass (along the end of the runway), followed by propeller marks in the ground and a large crater filled with Plexiglas and pieces of the engine compartment. … The remaining portion of the left wing folded leading edge up against the left side of the fuselage with the flap and most of the aileron still attached.”

“The left main tank was damaged and did not contain any fuel, nor did the wingtip tank. However, there was a large area under the fuselage and on the left side of the aircraft that showed evidence of fuel spillage contaminating the grass, and there were some blue fuel stains in the wing tank area. The right wing had some dents and minor deformations but was otherwise intact, and the right main tank contained approximately 20 gallons of fuel that had the consistency, odor, and color of 100-ll aviation gasoline.”

The report noted that the right wing tip tank contained approximately 2 gallons.

The report made no mention of any engine abnormalities or fuel line blockages and stated that all injectors “appeared normal,” as did the spark plugs.

The NTSB said Monday that a final report on the crash is expected in about 12 to 24 months.

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has received awards from the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for his investigative, entrepreneurial and current affairs reporting and columns. He is also the author of “Swee’pea,” a book about former New York basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti appears in the Emmy-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”