CARLINVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report detailing the events of a deadly May 31 plane crash.

The plane that crashed was a Piper PA-28-235 airplane, the report said. On the day of the crash, it left Creve Coeur Airport in St. Louis at 3:18 p.m. 

At 3:43 p.m., the report said the plane moved into a left turn, causing it to momentarily reverse course from northeast to the southwest. The turn then continued "with a significantly decreased turn radius" until the plane again headed northeast. 

The crash occurred at 3:45 p.m., when the plane started a right turn and seconds later began a "right descending spiral" until reaching its final data point on record. 

Authorities then discovered the accident site on a farm. They reported finding the plane's fuselage, engine and propeller inverted near a pond. The wings had separated from the fuselage and had fragmented into three sections, and the stabilator had fragmented into halves after separating from the aft fuselage.

The NTSB reported officials found "all major airframe structure" at the crash site. Authorities said a GoPro camera and Appareo Stratus 3i device found at the site are pending review.

The crash claimed the lives of the pilot and three passengers. Michigan man Joshua Daniel Sweers, 35, was the pilot, and the passengers killed included Missouri man Daniel A. Shedd, 37, Michigan man Daniel Schlosser, 39, and New York man John S. Camilleri, 39.

More information can be found in the report, which is attached to this story as a PDF document.