The small, Telluride-bound propeller plane , killing a family of four, made a series of erratic altitude changes before slamming into rugged terrain on a mountain, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB, in a preliminary report released Monday, found in the final seconds before the Jan. 2 crash in Gila County, Ariz., the Cessna T210K ascended about 425 feet in 12 seconds.
The crash left 44-year-old Eric Falbe — a lawyer — and his wife, 31-year-old Carrie, dead. Their two children, 14-year-old Vistoria and 12-year-old Skylar, also were killed.
The NTSB report says that, according to Eric Falbe’s friend, the family was headed from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Telluride for their annual vacation.
“After approximately 12 minutes of flight, the airplane reached a final cruising altitude of about 7,950 feet,” the preliminary report says. “The airplane subsequently descended about 1,300 feet in one minute before it entered a momentary climb, followed by a shallow descent.”
Federal investigators say radar data shows that in the remaining two and a half minutes of flight, the airplane maintained a 300-foot-per-minute descent rate with some intermittent climbs.
The NTSB found the plane slammed into a tree before coming to rest on the south face of a mountain at an elevation of about 6,600 feet.
The plane crash site was found by authorities after the family was reported missing to Scottsdale police.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
