JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- A plane that crashed last month, killing the pilot and a nurse, intentionally made a hard landing as the pilot tried to bang ice from its wings, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation and Safety Board.

The twin-engine, propeller-driven Cessna 414 crashed at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport on Dec. 26 after the pilot indicated problems with icing.

Killed were pilot Maureen McGee, 47, of Masontown, W.Va., and Diane Efaw, 47, of Morgantown, W.Va. They were flying to Teterboro, N.J., to pick up a patient and return that person to West Virginia.

According to the preliminary report, controllers said the plane came down hard, then took off again for about 2,000 to 3,000 feet before swerving to the right, shooting skyward and then nose-diving into the grass about 100 feet off another runway.

The plane left a trail of debris and gouges in the runway that appeared to be caused by the plane's left engine propeller, NTSB Air Safety Investigator Paul Cox wrote in the report.

Emergency responders told investigators that chunks of ice, some the size of baseballs, were scattered among the wreckage.

The report describes the crash as an accident, the aftermath of an aborted landing. A final report may take a year, Mr. Cox said.

First Published: January 9, 2007, 5:00 a.m.