NTSB: Pilot Lost Control in Colorado Crash that Killed 5 Alabamians

Investigators say the pilot of a small, single-engine airplane that crashed into a southwestern Colorado reservoir, killing all five people aboard, lost control of the aircraft as he prepared to land.

The National Transportation Safety Board released a probable cause report Wednesday saying the pilot handled the initial descent properly, but investigators do not know why he then lost control.

The Denver Post reports the 1996 model fixed-wing Socata TBM700 stalled and plunged into Ridgway Reservoir on March 22, 2014. Killed were 48-year-old Jimmy Hill, 40-year-old Katrina Barksdale; Barksdale’s sons, 11-year-old Kobe and 8-year-old Xander; and Barksdale’s 14-year-old nephew, Seth McDuffie. All were from Gadsden, Alabama, where the flight originated.

The report does not explicitly say who was flying, though it indicates Hill was the pilot.
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