(OCEAN CITY, Md.)- We now know why a plane carrying two off-duty police officers took a nose dive and crashed off the coast of Ocean City 18 months ago.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final probable cause report.
Detectives say the investigation shows no evidence of any mechanical malfunction and no signs of pilot distress. In fact, the investigation reveals the pilot was alert and actively engaged in providing control inputs.
Witness cell phone footage shows the aircraft spiraling into the Atlantic last June. According to the report, that aerobatic maneuver was the cause of the crash.
Officer Tom Geoghegan Jr., 43, of Ocean City, and officer Joshua Addickes, 27, of Berlin, died in the crash.
The Nanchang CJ-6A aircraft took off from the Ocean City Municipal Airport in West Ocean City around 3:45 p.m. on June 30, 2013.
Eyewitnesses tell WRDE, the plane spiraled downward from a high altitude near 130th Street before crashing off the coast of a crowded beach. It crews several days to recover the wreckage from the bottom of the ocean, mainly because of rough sea conditions.
The report states, "The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident to be the pilot's failure to terminate the intentional aerobatic spin at an altitude adequate to prevent impacting the water."