DENVER (AP) – Federal aviation investigators say pilot error was the likely cause of a vintage-biplane crash that killed the pilot and injured a passenger in south-central Colorado last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the crash says the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from the ground while maneuvering at low altitude. The report was issued last week.

The 1947 Boeing two-seater crashed on July 3, 2011, near Wetmore in the San Isabel National Forest about 110 miles south of Denver.

The crash killed 50-year-old Sidney Emmert of Oklahoma City. His passenger, Robert Hamilton of Wetmore, was treated at a Colorado Springs hospital and released.

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