deanplanewreckage291221 Pilot error was the probable cause of the fiery plane crash that killed five men—Mark Bixby, Tom Dean, Jeff Berger, Bruce Krall and pilot Kenneth Earl Cruz—and seriously injured Mike Jensen on March 16, 2011, during an attempted takeoff at Long Beach Airport.

The determination was reached after a long investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and made official when the filing of its Probable Cause Finding on Aug. 29.
Specifically, reported the NTSB, the probable cause of the crash was “the pilot’s failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during a momentary interruption of power from the left engine during the initial takeoff climb. Contributing to the accident was the power interruption due to water contamination of the fuel, which was likely not drained from the fuel tanks by the pilot during preflight inspection as required in the POH [Pilot’s Operating Handbook].”

READ THE TEXT OF FINDING AT LBREPORT.COM