NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Federal investigators say the pilot of a small plane in a deadly crash near New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport radioed the control tower shortly after takeoff about unspecified problems and sought clearance to return.

WVUE New Orleans television journalist Nancy Parker and the pilot were both killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a statement Saturday that the radio call was made just before the Aerotek Pitts S-2B crashed Friday afternoon. Much of the wreckage was consumed in a post-crash fire.

53-year-old Parker was an Emmy award winning journalist who worked in New Orleans for more than two decades.

The pilot, 69-year-old Franklin J.P. Augustus, was a veteran acrobatic air show pilot and New Orleans-based member of a group that honored the Tuskegee Airmen.

The NTSB says it will release a preliminary report within a few weeks.