NTSB issues report on cause of January plane crash at Eastern Iowa Airport

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report for the Jan. 17 airplane crash near the Eastern Iowa Airport has concluded that the probable cause of the accident was as follows:

The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions and his failure to maintain a proper glidepath during the approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of instrument proficiency.

Doug Tindal, 64, of Washington, Iowa, was piloting a single-engine Cessna, flying from Tulsa, Okla., to Washington, but because of weather conditions he diverted to Cedar Rapids. Tindal was low on fuel and crashed in a field about 2 miles southeast of the airport the night of Jan. 17. He suffered minor injuries.

Tindal had a total of 4 hours of instrument flight time before the accident, according to the NTSB.