Crime & Safety
NTSB Releases Report on Plane Crash That Killed Belmont Couple
Likely cause was pilot's inability to fly in low visibility weather conditions.
A small plane crash near Livermore that killed a Belmont couple in 2010 was most likely caused by the pilot's inability to fly in low-visibility weather conditions, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.
The crash happened shortly before 10:30 a.m. on May 9, 2010, about eight miles northeast of the Livermore Municipal Airport in a rural, hilly area off Morgan Territory Road.
Julia Huber, 75, was flying the plane, a Piper Cherokee PA-28, and her husband Oskar Huber, 77, was riding as a passenger.
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The couple was returning home after visiting family members in the Auburn area.
According to the report, rain had passed through the area shortly before the plane crashed and fog limited visibility.
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Julia Huber held a private pilot certificate that allowed her to fly in weather conditions clear enough to see where she was going, but the weather conditions that day appear to have required the use of navigation instruments, according to the report.
The plane was heading into hilly terrain when it appears that Julia Huber attempted to maneuver it to better weather conditions at lower elevations, but struck an area of 50-foot-tall trees and then crashed to the ground, according to the report.
The plane was seriously damaged, but investigators found no evidence of any mechanical malfunction before the crash.
-Bay City News
