Q Have federal officials completed their investigation into the fatal plane crash of the crop duster in August in Calipatria? Aside from the brief news coverage at the time, I haven’t heard much since then about the possible cause of the crash. It seems l

A

As of this past week, no final report into the Aug. 22 fatal aircraft crash involving a local crop duster has been completed by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is still investigating the incident.

In the absence of the final report, there’s not much that can be said about what may have caused the fatal accident.

But, a preliminary report issued by NTSB on Aug. 30 provides some additional details about the circumstances of the flight, without laying particular blame for the crash on any one specific factor.

The preliminary report states that the approximately 11 a.m. crash occurred during what was the pilot’s second load flight of the day in a Rockwell International S2R, the first having originated from Brawley Airport at about 10:20 a.m. that day.

The second flight had originated from a dirt strip about four miles from the accident location on a day that was free of any visual meteorological impediments, the NTSB’s preliminary report stated.

A detailed account of the accident found within the preliminary report is owed to an unidentified witness that was reportedly about 100 yards away. While we can’t say for certain who this witness is or what they might have been doing there at the time, we can only offer our condolences for having to have borne witness to such a tragic incident. Likewise, our condolences go out to the surviving family members of the 40-year-old pilot, Steven Turner, who was obviously well-liked within the community.