Investigators continue to work at the scene of a fatal plane crash Monday near North Central State Airport in Smithfield.

The Providence Journal Bob Breidenbach

It was an ordinary practice flight, like ones they’d conducted nearly every week together as friends with a mutual passion for the skies. What brought their small plane down in a fiery crash a half-mile from their destination, North Central State Airport in Smithfield, on Monday afternoon is a mystery that may not be solved for months.

Yesterday, air-safety investigators examined the wreckage of the Piper Tomahawk, which had soared over an electric cable and clipped treetops before crashing into the woods and killing the two men on board.

Both Robert A. Zoglio Jr., 43, of Richmond, and Ronald Tetreault, 64, of Glocester, were experienced and conscientious pilots, according to family and friends, and they frequently flew together in Zoglio’s small red-and-white plane.

Zoglio, who was at the controls on Monday, was an instrument-rated pilot, meaning he was capable of flying in conditions of poor visibility by relying on instruments. He and Tetreault flew about once a week so Zoglio could maintain his rating for instrument flight rules, said Tetreault’s wife, Beth.

Zoglio would essentially fly “blind,” testing his abilities to rely solely on instruments to fly, and Tetreault was his safety pilot, backing up Zoglio by being his “eyes,” she said. That was the purpose of Monday afternoon’s flight, she said.

Her husband was happiest when he was flying. And if there’s any consolation, said Tetreault’s wife of 35 years, it’s that he died doing something he loved.

BOTH MEN had grown up with a love of flight.

Tetreault had worked for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation for years as a senior builder and earned his pilot’s license seven years ago with lessons at North Central State Airport, Beth Tetreault said. He insisted that she also obtain her pilot’s license, in case she needed to take over the plane while they were flying together. The Tetreaults joined the Rhode Island Pilots Association, which elected Beth Tetreault president. They didn’t own a plane, but they would often rent a Diamond 40 for flights, she said.

Tetreault had spent hours Monday at the headquarters of the Rhode Island Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, at T.F. Green Airport, sorting through paperwork in preparation of an inspection, said Col. Anthony Gagliardi, the wing commander. He had joined the CAP more than a year ago as its logistics and supply officer, and he was training to be a scanner on search-and-rescue missions, Gagliardi said.

“Ron was very well-liked, very responsible. He had a lot of commitment to duty and service. He got along with everybody, he was a really nice guy,” Gagliardi said. “And Bob [Zoglio] was the same way.”

Zoglio, a former member of the Civil Air Patrol, bought the Piper 12 years ago and outfitted it with avionics for instrument flight rules. He kept the plane at T.F. Green Airport, near the MetLife offices where he worked as a systems analyst, and a few minutes from the Apponaug Color and Hobby Shop. Zoglio had been buying airplane models there nearly every week for the last 35 years, said shop owner Charles Moore. Zoglio lived in the village of Wyoming with his wife, Donna. He had joined the Richmond Conservation Commission nearly a year ago, encouraged by his co-worker and commission member Mary Doo, who knew of his interest in conservation issues.

He was a member of the Astronomical Society of Southern New England; an article he’d recently submitted for the Conservation Commission’s new Web site was about the beauty of Richmond’s night skies and ways to curb light pollution, said Chairman James Turek.

Tetreault also loved the night skies, his wife said.

“He actually loved to fly at night,” she said. “He said he felt being up there at night … was peaceful and serene.”

On Monday, the two men met at Green Airport to fly Zoglio’s plane to Smithfield just before 5 p.m. They nearly made it.

MORE THAN 200 yards down a dirt driveway lay the wreckage, white metal glowing as yesterday’s afternoon sun sliced through the trees. A clutch of felled trunks pointed toward the twisted metal, indicating that the aircraft had been flying roughly in a northeast direction when it clipped the top of the trees. James J. Warcup, an aeronautics inspector for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, said the plane apparently cleared an electric cable before crashing perhaps 100 feet beyond.

Blackened streaks from fire scarred the upside-down remains. The fire was “post-impact,” said Shawn D. Etcher, an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

Etcher said the wreckage would be moved to a hangar at North Central State Airport. A report that the plane had lost power before the crash was “a rumor,” Etcher said, although one that would be considered in the probe. Warcup and Etcher said it would be six months to a year for the NTSB to issue a report listing the cause of the accident. “We’re not going to jump to any conclusions,” Warcup said.

With reports from staff writer Thomas J. Morgan

amilkovi@projo.com