OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — The NTSB gave new information at the Daviess County Courthouse on the investigation into the deadly plane crash in Ohio County that claimed the lives of two young men.

“The first thing I want to do is to send condolences on behalf of the NTSB to the families. It’s a terrible loss, it’s a horrible loss, and I’m here to try and figure out why it happened,” says NTSB investigator Dan Boggs.

The two on board were flight instructor Timothy McKellar, Jr., and student Connor Quisenberry, of the Eagle Flight Academy in Owensboro. Officials believe they were practicing “touch and go maneuvers” before encountering inclement weather.

“After the Air Traffic Controller told the plane to get away from the storm that was fast approaching them, a portion of it turned east, but then shortly after that we lost complete communication with the pilot,” says Boggs.

Debris was first recovered early Thursday morning near Whitesville in Ohio County. Boggs says as of Friday, nearly all pieces of the aircraft have been recovered across a 40-acre debris field.

“We searched two more hillsides this morning and found the other half of the elevator that remains missing,” he says.

The NTSB will continue working in conjunction with the FAA and Piper Aircraft to assist in the investigation with active crews on the scene until this coming Monday.

“If we have a government shutdown, let’s go ahead and address this, it may delay some of our preliminary information a little bit, so between now and what we find out tomorrow night, whether there’s a government shutdown, work diligently to get the information documented. If there’s not, then within about 10-15 days we will have a preliminary report come on out what we have so far,” says Boggs.

Should the federal government shut down, officials say this investigation would be impacted, well beyond the expected 16-month timeline.

The NTSB says the Eagle Flight Academy will also be looked into to ensure it is properly following protocols. The flight school would not comment on the incident.