NTSB: Pilot errors, lack of sleep led to crash
ATLANTA (AP) – Federal investigators say a pilot failed to follow procedures during landing, and that fatigue due to sleep loss contributed to a fiery business jet crash that killed a Georgia vascular surgeon and four colleagues in a vein care practice.
In a report released Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the Feb. 20, 2013, crash was the pilot’s failure to follow procedures. It said his lack of knowledge about the aircraft and fatigue contributed to the accident near an airport in Thomson.
The NTSB’s report states that the pilot only slept five hours the night before the crash and later slept for about four hours at a pilot lounge in Nashville, Tennessee.
The pilot and a co-pilot survived with severe injuries. All five passengers died.
