Audio Suggests Crew Lost Control Of Cargo Plane That Crashed In Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A recording from the cockpit of a Boeing 767 cargo plane carrying Amazon packages that crashed into a Texas bay in February suggests the pilot lost control while preparing to land at a Houston airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board says its preliminary review of the audio found that 18 seconds before the flight's blackbox recording ends there were "crew communications consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft.
The NTSB does not say why the crew may have lost control. Investigators found that air traffic control had given the crew instructions to land on a runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport before the plane dropped into the shallow bay about 35 miles east of Houston.
The crash killed all three people aboard. The bodies of Captain Rick Blakely, Conrad Aska, the 44-year-old first officer and co-pilot, and Sean Archuleta, a 36-year-old jump-seat passenger have been recovered.
Investigators are still reviewing the patchy audio and information from the flight's data recorder. The NTSB cautions its early findings may change.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)