NTSB Blames Pilot For Altus Crash That Killed Him And Teenaged Passenger

The National Transportation Safety Board blames the pilot for an airplane crash that killed him and his 17 year old passenger last November.

Friday, July 23rd 2010, 9:53 am

By: News 9


News9.com

ALTUS, Oklahoma -- The National Transportation Safety Board blames the pilot for an airplane crash that killed him and his 17-year-old passenger last November.

In its probable cause report released Thursday, the NTSB says the probable cause of the crash was "the pilot's poor judgment by performing intentional low-level maneuvers that resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin at an altitude to [sic] low to affect a safe recovery."

The crash killed pilot Robert Munson, 38, and his passenger, 17-year-old Zachary Cook.

11/8/2009 Related story:  2 Killed in Altus Plane Crash

The NTSB says Cook and his father had gone to the airport at Munson's invitation so that the younger Cook could get a ride in the airplane, a 2001 Moore Skybolt biplane.  The elder Cook was one of the first people to get to the scene of the crash.

According to the NTSB, Munson, who worked as a firefighter at Altus Air Force Base, often did aerobatic maneuvers close to the ground just after taking off and just before landing at the airport, including on the day of the fatal crash.

The NTSB says Munson had a total of 419.7 flight hours, of which 23.0 hours were documented in the Skybolt. 

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