SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — The NTSB reveals new details about the small plane that crashed, near Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield in Oceanside.
It happened on June 3 during a skydiving flight. One of the pilots died and the other was seriously injured.
The NTSB preliminary report shows the pilots took a group of skydivers up to about 11,000 feet.
The skydivers jumped out. The pilots then began their descent.
"If you look at the flight profile after they dropped the jumpers, they were basically in constant descent back into the airfield. It looked like they would have to power all the way back," says Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
The NTSB says as the plane was descending, the engine power was idle, which is normal. To get back to the airport, the power needed to be increased. As the pilot moved the throttle forward, the lever was unresponsive.
"What you want to do is set the airplane at the speed you are going to set your approach at. You are not going to let it continue to bleed. You are going to bump that power up," adds Kidrick.
The NTSB says the plane eventually dropped and collided with the side of a berm.
The agency also says the pilot on the right side of the plane was training the other who was seated on the left side, She had undergone six days of training.
The experienced pilot was controlling the plane during the descent. Also, the pilots had already completed 6 flights that day, without any issues.
"It talks about the right seat pilot doing the bulk of everything that is being done. I don't know why that was, but he appeared to be in control of the airplane," says Kidrick.
The report did not say, what the investigators believe the cause of the crash was.
