CREW MADE FATAL MISTAKE ON MEDICAL PLANE
A University of Michigan Survival Flight plane crashed just after takeoff from Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport on June 4, 2007. The crash killed both pilots and a four-member organ transplant team.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has since reported that the co-pilot may have accidentally activated the autopilot instead of a different motion control device. The NTSB will continue to look into the operations of the plane's owner, the weather, the plane's air worthiness, maintenance records and cockpit voice recodings. The NTSB won't issue its formal conclusion regarding the probable cause of the crash until after it receives all of their reports later this year.
The autopilot button is next to the other motion contol device that the NTSB believes the co-pilot intended to activate. Many aircraft makers have redesigned consoles to avoid such confusion.
