RIVERSIDE – (INT) – An 83-year-old pilot’s failure to maintain control of his twin-engine plane caused it to crash into a Riverside neighborhood claiming his life and three of his four passengers in 2017.

In its finding of probable cause issued Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that Nouri Hijazi was under ‘personal pressure’ to complete a flight to return home to San Jose with his wife and three other people.

The Cessna 310 had just taken off from the Riverside Municipal Airport in light rain and mist on February 27th, 2017.

The plane was overloaded by 300 pounds and went into an aerodynamic stall, shaking violently, before plummeting into the front yards of two homes and exploding in a ball of fire. No one on the ground was hurt.

The NTSB also found that Hijazi suffered from coronary heart disease and was “unfamiliar with basic instrument flight planning procedures and was coached through the readback of his IFR clearance.”

A surviving passenger said Hijazi’s wife insisted they would fly ‘anxious’ passengers back home after attending cheerleading competition in Anaheim.

Story Date: April 18, 2019