The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report in the fatal airplane accident that claimed the lives of four Greensburg residents.
Don Horan, 46, was the pilot of the single engine Piper PA 46-350 plane that crashed while he attempted to land at the Greensburg Municipal Airport in December 2012.
Horan was with his wife Barb, as well as another couple Steve and Denise Butz, on a return flight from Destin, Florida.
The report stated that the pilot appeared to try and abort the landing, however, lost control to spatial disorientation. FAA officials caution, “pilots are particularly vulnerable to spatial disorientation during periods of low visibility due conflicts between what they see and what their supporting senses, such as inner ear and muscle sense, communicate.”
Witnesses said the weather was foggy on the evening of the accident. The last few seconds of recorded data indicated that the airplane entered into a descending left turn, transportation officials said.
The four residents were members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greensburg. Church and community members banded together after the tragedy and even launched the first annual On Eagle’s Wings 5K in their memory in August 2013.
