FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Federal authorities said investigators are attempting to determine why a flashlight was found in the tail cone of a crashed airplane in Ellis County, Texas.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Wednesday the flashlight was found near the stabilator push-pull tube linkage, a part of which was found fractured after last month's deadly crash, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported.
The Jan. 23 crash killed flight instructor, Gregory Green, 36, and his student, Eric Schultz, 15.
Aviation lawyer Jon Kettles, who had no reported ties to the crash investigation, said if the flashlight had accidentally become stuck in the small airplane's stabilator controls, the aircraft would have been nearly impossible to control.
"Mr. Green would have just been a passenger," Kettles told the Star-Telegram. "That's got to be one of the most horrible experiences to have to be unable to control the aircraft."
Kettles said discovered marks on the airplane's tail cone and on the flashlight indicate at one point, the flashlight was likely stuck somewhere in that vital area of the aircraft.
