NTSB: Pilot In Spin Before Crash At Ridgway Reservoir

RIDGWAY, Colo. (CBS4)– Investigators are releasing more details about what happened before the deadly plane crash into Ridgway Reservoir last month. The pilot told air traffic control that he was in “a spin.”

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on its investigation of the March 22 deadly plane crash at Ridgway Reservoir.

The new report confirms that soon before the crash the pilot advised an air traffic controller that the single-engine plane was in a spin and that he was trying to recover.

Afterwards radio contact and radio communications were lost.

Authorities said the aircraft came to rest in about 70 feet of water within the Ridgway Reservoir in Ouray County. The pilot and four passengers were all killed in the crash.

Ouray County officials identified the dead as Jimmy Hill, 48; Katrina Barksdale, 40; Barksdale’s sons, 11-year-old Kobe and 8-year-old Xander; and Barksdale’s 14-year-old nephew, Seth McDuffie.

(credit: CBS)

All were from Gadsden, Ala., where the flight originated. They were flying to Montrose for spring break.

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