DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Federal investigators blame pilot error and an overloaded aircraft for a 2019 plane crash near a Michigan airport that killed five Indiana men and seriously injured a sixth person aboard.
The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the Oct. 3, 2019, crash says the pilot failed to maintain airspeed during his final approach to the Capital Region International Airport, near Lansing, Michigan.
Investigators also said the single-engine Socata TBM 700 was more than 200 pounds overweight and its load was too far back in the aircraft, contributing to it being difficult to control. The plane had taken off from a suburban Indianapolis airport.
Six men were aboard the single-engine plane, which crashed Oct. 3 outside Capital Region International Airport, near Lansing, Michigan. The Socata TBM 700 plane had departed from Indy South Greenwood Airport in Indianapolis and crashed while approaching the runway at Capital Region International Airport.
Neil Alan Sego, 46, of Trafalgar, John Thomas Lowe, 51, of Greenwood and Timothy Joe Clark, 67, of Franklin were all pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The 48-year-old pilot Joel Beavins also died a few days after the crash. His obituary was posted online by Swartz Family Community Mortuary in Franklin.
-
Economist weighs in after Governor Braun signs property tax relief bill into law
Governor Braun signed Senate Bill 1 into law Tuesday after lawmakers. Find out what this could mean for your property tax billIndy DPW: 157,000 potholes filled so far this year, working on thousands more
Indy's Department of Public Works said crews are working ten-hour shifts this week and next week— weather permitting— to make roads smoother.Execution date set for man convicted of killing Beech Grove Officer
Benjamin Ritchie is scheduled to be executed on May 20, 2025 for the 2000 murder of officer William Toney."Swerve, duck and dodge': Haughville residents say potholes plague neighborhood
Haughville resident say potholes are interfering with their daily commutes. Indy DPW said the department has received around 8,200 more pothole reports this year, compared to this time last year.