Frightening audio from the single-engine plane that crashed in a San Diego neighborhood on Monday suggests the pilot may have become disorientated.
In the exchange, air traffic controllers urged the pilot to climb higher after realizing he was headed toward the ground.
“It looks like you are drifting off course,” a controller is heard telling the pilot in the audio first obtained by KUSI. “Are you correcting?”
“Low altitude alert. Climb immediately! Climb the airplaine. Maintain 5,000. Expedite the climb. Climb the airplane, please!” the controller pleaded as the pilot dangerously fell below 1,500 feet.
The pilot, identified as Dr. Sugata Das, a cardiologist from Yuma, Arizona, never successfully navigated the plane out of its dive.
The plane crashed in a residential neighborhood in Santee Monday afternoon, destroying two homes. The impact also killed two people: the pilot and a beloved neighborhood UPS driver.
“I believe the pilot was totally disoriented,” flight instructor Robert Katz told KFMB-TV, noting the flight data online showed a troubling final descent. “He [did] not know which way is up, and he is just along for the ride.”
The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched investigators to examine the deadly crash scene, but experts warned the investigation could last two years. The FAA is also investigating.
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