EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Federal investigators say the small plane that crashed into an East Palo Alto neighborhood last year, killing three Tesla Motors employees, was likely caused by pilot error.

A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board says pilot Doug Bourn failed to heed warnings by the control tower about heavy fog.

Bourn's twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed into a 60-foot electric tower and power lines on Feb. 17, 2010, shortly after taking off from Palo Alto Airport. A previous NTSB report found that the plane's engines were running at near-full power and its propellers were rotating at the time.

Last week's report says the plane took off in "near-zero visibility."

Bourn was a senior electrical engineer at Tesla. The other victims were Andrew Ingram, also an electrical engineer, and Brian Finn, a senior manager.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.