CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A report by the National Transportation Safety Board says pilot error is to blame for a December plane crash in northwest Iowa that killed three people.  The Sioux City Journal says the recently-released report faults pilot Gaylen Knaack for not aborting his attempt to land the plane when he encountered thick fog.

The 70-year-old Knaack’s 1961 single-engine Beech 235 struck trees about a quarter-mile northeast of a private grass airstrip where he was going to land on Dec. 1st.  Two passengers died in the crash. They were 53-year-old Lee Schroeder, of Oto, and 55-year-old James Smith, of Correctionville.  Knaack suffered severe burns in the crash and died from his injuries in February.