PLEASANTON, Kan. (AP) — Federal officials say last month’s deadly crash of a small plane happened soon after the kit-built aircraft took off from a private east-central Kansas airstrip.

The Kansas City Star reports that the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Friday. The March 31 crash killed 67-year-old Herbert Lewis Siegel of Stillwell, who was flying the plane, and 57-year-old Brian Clark Decker of Independence, Missouri.

The report said the 2006 Zodiac CH 601 XL was barely airborne when it drifted off an extended runway. The two-seat airplane then collided with some trees and burst into flames about two miles northwest of Pleasanton.

Two witnesses told investigators they saw the airplane lift off with its nose unusually high and that they were unsure whether the craft’s tail struck the ground.