LISBON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The engine of a small plane that killed two people in an emergency landing on a beach near the Portuguese capital Lisbon earlier this month stopped working in just 4 minutes after takeoff, Portugal's Lusa News Agency reported on Friday.
"During the crossing of the Tagus River, the aircraft was hit by a very strong upward current. At that moment the engine failed and stopped working," said the Office of Prevention and Investigation of Accidents with Aircraft and Accidents of Railways (GPIAAF) in a statement.
The instructor failed to reignite the engine after several attempts and the plane made an emergency landing on the crowded at Sao Joao beach in Costa de Caparica in Almada, some 30 km south of Lisbon, the statement added.
A 56-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl were killed on spot while the plane was making the emergency landing.
The Cessna 152 plane was on a training flight from Cascais town in the suburbs of Lisbon to Evora, a central Portuguese city on Aug 2.
The two onboard reported an engine failure to the control tower shortly after takeoff, saying it was about to make an emergency landing on a beach.
However, the plane landed on Sao Joao beach next to the one they reported to the control tower.
Portugal's Attorney General's Office said in a statement on Aug. 3 that the two crew members of the small plane are guilty of a possible negligent homicide after interrogation.
The crime of negligent homicide is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment, according to Portuguese laws.
