JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The plane crash that killed a man and his two daughters last December was the result of the pilot's failure to maintain airplane control during a missed approach at night due to spatial disorientation and a "lack of instrument proficiency," according to the final report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to the NTSB, about 6:21 p.m. Sunday, a Cessna 310R operated by 60-year-old Michael Huber crashed into a retention pond in the Sutton Lakes neighborhood in Sandalwood during a missed approach at Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport.
Huber and his two daughters, 17-year-old Abigail Huber and 20-year-old Tess Huber (all pictured below), died in the crash. Tess Huber was a University of North Florida sophomore majoring in sports management and a member of the women's golf team.
The flight originated from St. Lucie County International Airport in Fort Pierce about 5:15 p.m.
Investigators said the plane was in radio and radar contact with air traffic control as Michael Huber was performing an instrument landing system approach to runway 32 at Craig Airport.
The air traffic control tower asked Michael Huber if he wanted weather information, but Huber said no and that the weather looked good. The weather at Craig Airport included visibility of two miles and a 400-foot overcast ceiling, according to the report.
Michael Huber flew the plane left of the final approach course twice before intercepting it a third time, descending to 300 feet, and then reporting that he was going to conduct a missed approach, according to the report.
The published missed approach procedure was to climb to 700 feet and then to make a climbing right turn to 1,900 feet on a 180-degree heading. However, the tower controller instructed the pilot to fly a heading of 280 degrees, and the pilot acknowledged the instruction, according to the report.
LISTEN: Radio calls between Craig tower, Michael Huber's plane
IMAGES: Wreckage of plane pulled from pond
After that, the airplane made a climbing left turn to 900 feet before radar and radio communications were lost, according to the report.
The plane descended and crashed into the retention pond.
"Given the night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with restricted visibility and the sustained left turn and climb, it is likely the pilot experienced spatial disorientation," the report reads.
According to the report, the investigation could not determinate the pilot's overall and recent experience in actual IMC; however, his inability to align the airplane with both the final approach fix's lateral and vertical constraints is consistent with a lack of instrument proficiency.
The wreckage was later found about a mile south of the airport, submerged in the retention pond in Sutton Lakes.
Huber held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane, according to NTSB. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on Aug. 2, 2013. At that time, he reported a total flight experience of 1,600 hours.
Aviation attorney Ed Booth said the report doesn't blame controllers but hints they could have given better instructions.
"A pilot flying at night in instrument conditions has to rely upon instruments," aviation attorney Ed Booth said. "His body may be telling him he is in a right turn when he is actually in a left turn.
"My main criticism of the way air traffic control handled this crash or flight as it was inbound is, they knew this pilot was in trouble. He was a mile off course in a portion of this flight where a couple of hundred feet off course is significant. ... This is a tragedy, and I think the NTSB was accurate in putting a large share of the blame on the pilot for not being current, but there is some shared responsibility here."
To read the full report, click here.