A single-engine plane rolled upside down before crashing near a Southern California airport on the Fourth of July, killing a father and severely injuring his three sons, federal investigators said in a preliminary report.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released the report on the crash that killed Jared Newman, 39, of Temecula and injured his sons.
Newman was at the controls of a Cessna 172N operated by a pilot school when it went down near French Valley Airport in Murrieta, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The plane had made a touch-and-go landing on a runway when it then climbed, veered left, and at about 60 feet (18 meters) above the ground dropped one wing, rolled over and disappeared behind a building, according to airport surveillance video cited in the NTSB report.
"A witness reported that the airplane’s approach to runway 18 was ‘unstable’ and the flaps appeared to be fully extended," the report said.
The witness saw the plane slowly climb towards some buildings, its wings rocking back and forth before it disappeared behind the building, the report said.
The plane apparently struck a 50-foot tall (15-meter) building in an industrial complex near the airport, the NTSB said.
Televised news footage showed the plane upside down in a parking lot.
The NTSB said skies were clear and cloudless at the time of the crash.
The crash killed Newman and left his sons Caleb, Connor and Elijah Newman with serious injuries.
Federal Aviation Administration records indicate Newman obtained his private pilot's certificate on June 19, allowing him to carry passengers.
Only days after the accident, six people died in the crash of a business jet that was trying to land at the same airport.
That plane crashed in a field and burst into flames during the second of two landing attempts in fog just before dawn on July 8.
