Pilot Crashed Plane While Taking Selfies

 

A pilot who was taking selfies while at the controls may have crashed and died after becoming dazzled by the flash from his mobile phone. 

Investigators believe that Amritpal Singh lost control after he was disorientated by the light from his mobile phone after he took photographs of himself during a flight.
 

Mr Singh, 29, and his passenger both died when the Cesna 150K crashed into a wheat field in Denver shortly after midnight on May 31 last year. 

A report by the National Transportation Safety Board told how a GoPro camera mounted to the plane’s windshield recorded the pilot and various passengers on previous flights taking sleeves on their mobile phones. 

Although no data was recorded from the fatal flight, investigators said it was likely Mr Singh was doing the same on the night he crashed. 

Speaking of other flights recorded by the camera, the report said: "The GoPro recordings revealed that the pilot and various passengers were taking self-photographs with their cell phones and, during the night flight, using the camera’s flash function during the takeoff roll, initial climb, and flight in the traffic pattern." 

It added: "Based on the evidence of cell phone use during low-altitude maneuvering, including the flight immediately before the accident flight, it is likely that cell phone use during the accident flight distracted the pilot and contributed to the development of spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control." 

The report states that investigators believe that following the flash, Mr Singh for disorientated and then stalled the plane, causing it to plummet to the earth.