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Aug 26, 2008 12:25 pm US/Eastern
Report: Pilot Off Course Before Easton Crash
EASTON (WBZ) ―
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Donna Gregory and their twins in a photo from the family's MySpace page.
WBZ
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Robert Gregory in a photo from the family's MySpace page.
WBZ
The pilot of an Angel Flight that crashed in Easton killing three people earlier this month was not on the correct path to Logan Airport, according to investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a
preliminary report Tuesday of the August 12 crash.
The charity flight was carrying Robert Gregory of Riverhead, N.Y., a cancer patient, and his wife, Donna, to Logan for treatment at the nearby Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
They were killed in
the crash along with the pilot, Joseph Baker of Brookfield, Conn.
NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson told WBZ Tuesday that the preliminary investigation suggests Baker was not on the correct approach course to land at Logan.
When air traffic controllers tried to get him back on course, he flew right through the correct path, rather than turning into it. Knudson said they're now trying to figure out why that happened.
During that time, investigators say the plane experienced significant fluctuations in altitude that Knudson called "quite unusual."
Baker did not make a distress call and was repeatedly warned that he was flying too low shortly before the plane spiraled to the ground and crashed in a supermarket parking lot. No one on the ground was hurt.
Authorities are still scouring over the wreckage to make sure there were no mechanical issues and that all instruments on plane were working correctly.
They also need to rule out any possible health issues with Baker. They will do a 72-hour background check on him to trace his actions in the three days leading up to the crash.
The final report is due in about a year.
Baker was a U.S. Navy submarine veteran and a volunteer pilot for the charity group, Angel Flight Northeast.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
