A probable cause statement released by the National Transportation Safety Board confirms that pilot error was to blame for the 2011 plane crash that killed 24-year-old pilot Scott Veal, and injured his girlfriend Kristin Sprauge who was flying a separate plane.
The two had departed from separate western Alaska villages but had rendezvoused to fly side-by-side back to Bethel. The two apparently used a discrete frequency to coordinate the link up.
For reasons unknown, Veal unexpectedly maneuvered his Cessna 208 above Sprague’s Cessna 207. Veal's plane struck her right wing, causing his aircraft to plummet out of the air to the tundra and burst into flames.
Sprauge was able to make an emergency landing on the tundra and survived with minor injuries.
The NTSB says that neither the weather nor visibility were factors, and that those maneuvers and the proximity in which the two planes were flying are not recommended.
Veal was flying for Grant Aviation, and Sprauge for Ryan Air.