Feds determine official cause of Hope student plane crash
A Hope College student's decision to take off in bad weather and his lack of experience were the cause of a Jan. 17, 2010, plane crash that killed him and his passenger, a new report from the National Transportation and Safety Board says.
David Otai, 23, rented the Cessna 172N to give rides to his friends that day, according to the report. His first passenger, Emma Biagioni, 20, arrived at Tulip City Airport around 8 a.m., but Otai delayed the flight until 9:45 a.m. because of fog and other poor weather conditions.
Otai was not current in his training on using instruments alone to fly. He had done so for less than two hours and not since April 2008, the report says.
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