A Slippery Rock High School graduate and former Butler County resident is in critical condition at a Florida hospital after his plane crashed Tuesday during takeoff. Jim Tiller/The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Federal aviation officials are investigating Tuesday night's single-engine plane crash in Florida that seriously injured the pilot, a former Butler County man, and killed his passenger.

Chase D. Zinn, 23, of Daytona Beach, formerly of Prospect, remains in the Halifax Health Medical Center with serious injuries, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Nandish Patel, 22, of Titusville, Crawford County, died in the wreck.

Authorities said Zinn, a 2013 graduate of Slippery Rock High School, was piloting the plane about 7:30 p.m. when it crashed during takeoff at Spruce Creek Airport in Port Orange.

The two-seat Cessna 140 “narrowly missed hitting a home,” said sheriff's office spokesman Laura Williams in a news release.

Patel was pronounced dead at the scene. Zinn was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted in critical condition.

Zinn is a flight instructor, according to his Facebook page. He graduated from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Fla.

A representative from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived that night to begin an investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting.

The plane was removed from the scene and is being examined as part of the investigation,

“The investigator right now is pulling all the information together, interviewing witnesses and gathering the facts,” NTSB spokesman Nicholas Worrell said Thursday.

The NTSB investigator reported that the plane was only about 300 feet off the ground when it went down.

Worrell said because of Zinn's injuries, the investigator was unable to speak to him.

Authorities “may not find out for weeks if he remembers anything,” Worrell said of Zinn.

There was no flight plan filed, Worrell said. The weather was “good” he noted, and it was not considered a factor in the crash.

Worrell said Zinn owned the plane. But according to the FAA online registry, James B. Savage of Adams Township owns the aircraft that he bought in 2009. The plane was built in 1946, according to the FAA online registry.

It could take between six month and one year before the NTSB issues its final crash report.

There was no answer Thursday at the Zinn family home in Prospect. Patel was a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, authorities said. His family could not be reached.