NTSB Can't Establish Cause of 2018 St. Clair Plane Crash

A final National Transportation Safety Board report couldn't establish the cause of a St. Clair County plane crash on March 28, 2018, that left the pilot dead.

Specifically, the report stated that the probable cause of the crash that killed Brett James Leistyne, 52, of Los Angeles was "descent and impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined."

Leistyne took off from Northeast Alabama Regional Airport at about noon on the day of the crash, headed for New Orleans, according to published reports at the time. He made contact with flight controllers at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport — reporting that he was 7 miles south of the Gadsden airport and climbing — then there were no further communications.

He was reported missing that night by family members after he failed to arrive in New Orleans. His body and the plane's wreckage was found two days later in a search coordinated by the Civil Air Patrol and the Etowah County Sheriff's office, in a heavily wooded area off U.S. Highway 411 just past Canoe Creek.

An autopsy found traces of THC in Leistyne's body, showing that he'd used marijuana prior to the flight, plus an acquaintance of the pilot — who was in Gadsden on business, according to the report — told the NTSB that they had worked into the wee hours that morning and he didn't believe Leistyne had gotten much of any sleep.

However, the report said there was "insufficient evidence to determine whether fatigue, impairment or incapacitation may have contributed to the accident."

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