No Mechanical Problems Found

The NTSB released its report Wednesday on the April 20, 2006 accident that left five Indiana University (IU) graduate students, one of them the pilot, dead after their Cessna U206G (file photo of similar type below) clipped treetops and crashed a half-mile short of Monroe County Airport.

According to federal investigators, pilot error was the likely cause of the late-night plane crash, reported the Associated Press. Investigators found no mechanical problems with the plane, according to the preliminary report.

Those killed were graduate students in IU's music school and returning to Bloomington after a concert rehearsal in West Lafayette, as ANN originally reported.

The NTSB blamed the crash on "the pilot's continued descent below decision height and not maintaining adequate altitude/clearance from the trees while on approach."

A review of the single-engine Cessna's engine monitor found a reduction in fuel flow consistent with slowing for a descent, followed by an increase to full power before the crash, the report said.

Other factors cited by investigators were the night lighting conditions and mist as the Bloomington airport reported visibility of one mile and overcast conditions at 100 feet.

Georgina Joshi, the pilot, was certified for instrument flight and had nearly 380 hours of flight time, the report said. Toxicology tests were negative.

The NTSB report said the pilot made a radio call at 11:43 pm, telling flight controllers at the Terre Haute airport that the plane was about six miles from the Bloomington airport and approaching to land.

A flight controller told the pilot the radio frequency for flights at the Bloomington airport, after which the pilot responded, "Thank you, sir." That was the last communication controllers had with the plane, the report said.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Department received its first calls of a possible plane crash about 11:45 pm, and the wreckage was found four hours later.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov