PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A factual basis report on the fatal crash of a single-engine experimental airplane at the Pierre airport indicates that an entrance door was open 50 feet above the ground.
Witnesses quoted in the report observed the open left "gull-wing" entrance door and saw the airplane go into a series of four up and down pitches.
Sixty-nine-year-old Paul Lee, who owned the plane, was killed in the August crash of the SQ2000. The plane that can be built from a kit.
The report is being forwarded to National Transportation Safety Board headquarters, which will determine a probable cause of the crash.
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