Sep. 7—The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued its final report on an October 2020 crash at the Carlisle Airport.

The crash occurred about 2:30 p.m. Oct. 18, 2020 when a small plane crashed into a wooded area north of the airport in South Middleton Township.

According to the FAA report released last week, the Aero Bristell LSA single-engine aircraft departed from the Mifflin County Airport in Reedsville, just north of Lewistown. The plane, built in 2019, is registered to a name and address in Carlisle Borough, according to FAA records.

FAA investigators said the pilot was approaching the airport for landing and noticed the airplane was too high while on final approach. There were also variable and gusty crosswinds at the time.

The pilot decided to conduct a go-around, so he added power and pressed the control stick forward to prevent the airplane from pitching up as it gained airspeed.

"The pilot's next recollection was seeing tree branches and the airplane descending in a nose down attitude into the woods," the report read.

The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to impact.

As a result, the FAA cited the cause of the crash as the failure of the pilot to maintain adequate clearance from trees during an attempted go-around into gusty crosswinds.

The final report from the FAA does not include information on injuries suffered by the two people in the airplane at the time of the crash. Early reports had conflicting information with the FAA saying in an initial statement that there were serious injuries and a report from the National Transportation Safety Board saying there were minor injuries.

The report said the aircraft sustained substantial damage in the crash.

The pilot had 460 total flight time hours with 31 of those hours in the make and model of aircraft he was flying that day.

Email Tammie at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @TammieGitt.

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