Agency: Deadly Small Plane Crash Likely Due To Pilot Error
KIMBALL TOWNSIHP, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board says the fatal crash of a small plane near a southeastern Michigan airport in the fog in 2014 was likely due to pilot error.
The plane crashed on Dec. 24, 2014, in Kimball Township near St. Clair County International Airport. A 52-year-old Canadian pilot, Lawrence L. Zavitz, was the only person on board.
A report released by the NTSB, which cites probable causes of the crash, was obtained by The Times Herald of Port Huron. According to the report, the crash's probable causes were the "pilot's decision to continue flight below the minimum descent altitude without visually acquiring the runway and his delayed and improperly executed missed approach procedure in instrument meteorological conditions."
Conditions were rainy, foggy and unseasonably warm when the plane crashed around 1:30 p.m. in a heavily wooded area. The wreckage wasn't located until four hours later.
Investigators found no evidence to show the plane was not operating correctly, according to the report.
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