NTSB: Pilot To Blame For Fatal Plane Crash Near Duncan

News9.com

VELMA, Oklahoma -- The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on the crash of a small plane last November which killed the pilot.

According to the NTSB, the pilot, Richard Contreras-Fischer, 48, was trying to direct a ground crew to a pipeline leak on November 24, 2010, when the crash happened.

11/24/2010:  Related Story:  Pilot Killed In Small Airplane Crash Near Duncan

Investigators say the Cessna 172 hit power lines then the ground while maneuvering at low altitude 8 miles east of Velma, Oklahoma.

The plane was owned by Eagle Sky Patrol, Inc., of Nemo, South Dakota.

The NTSB says the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate and had accumulated 1,269.2 hours of flight time.  However, the pilot had been flying pipeline patrol for approximately 4 months and had no previous pipeline patrol experience.

Read the NTSB's Probable Cause report.

According to witnesses, the pilot was circling and attempting to guide a ground crew to a pipeline leak. He made four complete circles around the leak and, on the fifth circle, the airplane rolled into a hard left turn and crashed.

The NTSB investigator reported he could find no problems with the airplane's structure, engine, or other systems.

The probable cause of the crash, according to the NTSB, was "the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while maneuvering, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's relative inexperience in pipeline patrols."

See additional crash photos from NTSB report.