(MOAB, UTAH) – The National Transportation Safety Board says the investigation into a fatal 2023 plane crash near Moab, Utah, is complete.
The plane killed North Dakota legislator Doug Larsen, his wife, Amy, and their two sons.
“The pilot’s loss of visual reference to the horizon while departing during dark night, which resulted in the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation and subsequent controlled flight into terrain,” the NTSB reported as the probable cause of the crash.
The NTSB says the four occupants departed to return to their home airport in North Dakota.
“Impact marks indicated that the pilot likely began a climb or held a nose-up attitude before the airplane’s landing gear struck a hill. The airplane continued beyond this first hill for about 540 ft, where it then descended in a nose-low attitude and impacted a second hill. The impacts fatally injured the occupants and substantially damaged the airplane,” the report stated.
No abnormalities were noted on the airframe, the plane’s engine or maintenance logbooks.
