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Samantha Hayes Reporting Two Utahns who survived a fatal plane crash have finally learned why it happened. The corporate commuter plane crashed just more than a year ago in Missouri. The survivors talked today about investigators' unusual findings.
Usually you hear the cause is something like mechanical failure, but the report from the NTSB blames the professional conduct of the pilots. One of the investigators said "the discipline in that cockpit didn't seem to exist, which created an environment for mistakes to be made."
It looked like the plane crashed in the middle of nowhere, but in fact, the runway was just a mile ahead. There were 15 people on board, including the pilots; only two survived. Now Wendy Bonham and colleague Dr. John Krogh know what happened when the plane went down.
Dr. John Krogh, Crash Survivor: "And then we heard the cockpit voice recording transcript and so forth and the language they used, they were very cavalier about things."
Wendy Bonham, Crash Survivor: "That, that was a mistake you don't want to make if you have that kind of responsibility."
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board agree. The agency's report says the pilots failed to monitor flight instruments during approach and descended too low. It also says that in a recorded conversation between the pilots, they lacked a "professional tone" that distracted them from the flight.
Wendy Bonham: "I've had nine surgeries on my arm and head, and I just now am starting to feel normal."
Physically, the survivors are doing much better. Emotional wounds are slower to heal.
Wendy Bonham: "The biggest thing for me, the hardest thing for me, was that I didn't go back to help."
Dr. Krogh: "Everybody, I think, has a tragedy they have to deal with in this life. How we deal with it is a measure of our character, and help develop our character."
The report also says the pilots were too tired. They had been on duty nearly 15 hours, just under the 16 hour FAA maximum. The pilots also landed the plane six times earlier that day in challenging weather.
