NTSB: "Selfies" likely factor in deadly plane crash near Denver
DENVER -- Federal investigators say selfies likely played a role in a small plane crash near Denver last year that killed two people.
CBS Denver reports that the National Transportation Safety Board released its report on the May 2014 crash in which two people were killed when the plane went down near the Front Range Airport in Watkins.
The NTSB says the plane's occupants were taking what's known as "selfies" on board. Selfies are pictures that are taken by a cellphone holder of themselves. The report says the cause of the crash may have been a case of distracted flying.
Investigators found a GoPro camera in the crash debris. The video form the camera showed the pilot and his passenger taking selfies at low altitudes.
The Cessna 150 went down in a field two miles from Front Range Airport while doing nighttime takeoffs and landings, according to the NTSB report.
"Pilot and passengers were taking self-photographs with their cellphones," the report states.
The pilot and owner of the plane was 29-year-old Amritpal Singh of Aurora. Jeff Price had been one of his professors at Metro State University. He says Singh loved to fly and the aviation department newsletter had done a story about his death.
The NTSB report stated those in the plane were also using the camera's flash function at night. Price says that can be distracting and especially dangerous at low altitudes.
Ironically, Price's former student's love of aviation may now turn into a cautionary tale of the dangers of using a cellphone for taking photos while flying.
Price said he was once flying a plane when somebody in the cockpit took a flash picture. He said he thought it was lightning and it greatly startled him.
Last month, the NTSB released their 2015 "Most Wanted" list of top transportation safety improvements. At the top of the list: "Disconnect from deadly distractions."
The NTSB said that since 2003 it has found 11 accident investigations were linked to distraction from portable electronic devices. Those crashes resulted in 259 people injured and 50 people killed.