Plane crash still a mystery

2008-11-27
TBT Staff in cooperation with BNS

TALLINN - investigators have said that there was no indication of technical or health problems that could have caused the deadly plane crash near Parnu in July.

The pilot, a 58-year-old Swedish national, was the only person on board the plane. He was killed in the accident.

Experts thoroughly examined the wreck of the aircraftbut found no indication of a technical defect, the chairmanof the accident investigating commission, Jens Haug, said.

"All investigation proceedings are practicallycompleted and the facts assembled, but it's not fit to talkabout the presumable causes of the accident before the finalreport is out," he said.

Nonetheless, he singled out a few circumstances thatshed light on the crash. For instance, investigators found abroken ignition key in the wreck, and it has been disclosedearlier that the fuel valve was in a shut-off position. Theexperts also established that the engine lacked poweralthough it was running at the time of the crash.

All this appears to indicate that the pilot had turnedoff fuel before the accident and was fiddling with theignition, but the reasons for his action are not yet clear.