NTSB Blames Pilot For Fatal Crash Near Talihina Last Year

The National Transportation Safety Board blames the pilot for an airplane crash near Talihina last year in which he died.

Elmer Ray Broadbent, 71, died when his single-engine Piper PA-28 crashed at about 3:30 p.m. on October 21, 2013. The plane crashed in dense woods in a hilly area, so it took a search crew three days to locate the wreckage.

7/22/2014: Related Story: NTSB Releases Report On Fatal Talihina Plane Crash

His family said Broadbent was a real estate agent and retired airline pilot who was flying from Searcy, Arkansas to Elk City, Oklahoma to finalize the sale of a house.

According to the NTSB's Probable Cause Report, the probable cause of the accident was "The pilot’s lack of weather planning and his continued flight into an area of known rain with reduced visibility and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance with trees."

The NTSB says the pilot was probably flying low because of the bad weather and then flew into rain which made it impossible for him to see the ground.