VIDEO: Federal investigators released a timeline Tuesday of what led up to a deadly plane crash near Prescott earlier this month, but no clear cause was found.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an unidentified 64-year-old pilot took off in a Socata TB21 from John Wayne Airport in Southern California just before 5 p.m. on Feb. 4 and headed toward Prescott Regional Airport.
Around 7:44 p.m., the pilot radioed the Prescott tower, telling the tower he intended to land, the report said. The tower told the pilot to maintain altitude above 6,500 feet, pass over the airport and enter the runway downwind. The pilot acknowledged and flew over the airport around 7:47 p.m.
Then the tower told the pilot the altitude restriction was canceled, extended the downwind and said it would call for a base turn. About 46 seconds later, the controller cautioned the pilot about how close he was to another plane about to land, and the pilot acknowledged.
