BUCYRUS, Ohio No pre-impact anomalies were discovered in the engine or control cables of a private plane that crashed here Dec. 17, killing a family of four, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.

The Piper PA-24-260 s engine was recovered about three feet below the ground s surface at the point where the plane crashed near an apartment complex. Besides reporting no evidence of failure before the crash, the preliminary report said investigators found a liquid consistent with avgas aviation fuel in the fuel servo and manifold, indicating the plane had not run out of fuel.

Paul and Lillian Martin of Austin, Texas, and their chidren, 10-year-old Kitanna and 11-year-old Shawn, died in the crash. They were flying from Tulsa, Okla., to Belfast, Maine, with a stop planned in Wads worth, Ohio, near Akron. No one on the ground was injured.

First Published December 27, 2006, 11:11 a.m.