Flight recording suggests crashed cargo jet crew lost control
WASHINGTON -- A recording from the cockpit of a cargo plane that crashed into a Texas bay in February suggests the pilot lost control while preparing to land at a Houston airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board says its preliminary review of the audio found that 18 seconds before the flight's blackbox recording ends there were "crew communications consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft." The NTSB does not say why the crew may have lost control.
Investigators found that air traffic control had given the crew instructions to land on a runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport before the plane dropped into the shallow bay about 35 miles east of Houston. The crash killed all three people aboard.
Investigators are still reviewing the patchy audio and information from the flight's data recorder. The NTSB cautions its early findings may change.
RELATED STORIES OF THE CARGO JET CRASH:
- Second 'black box' recovered from plane crash in Trinity Bay
- Witnesses recall moments before Atlas Air cargo plane crash in Chambers Co.
- Remains found in plane crash area as 3rd crew member unaccounted for
- Trinity Bay jetliner crash: Victims' names released
- TIMELINE: Moments before Boeing 767 crashed into Trinity Bay in Chambers Co.
