LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The National Transportation Safety Board recently published a revised report for a plane crash that killed three people, including the founder of Louisville City FC, in southern Indiana in 2018.

LouCity founder Wayne Estopinal, Sandra Holland Johnson, 54, of Shreveport, Louisiana and pilot Andrew Davis, 32, of Sellersburg, Indiana, died in a crash after taking off from Clark Regional Airport in Jeffersonville.

Two years ago, a final crash report said a malfunction with the left winglet caused an issue during the flight and the pilot was unable to recover. But, in an updated report released on Feb. 23, NTSB said there wasn't enough evidence to attribute the cause of the crash to winglets.

"The available evidence for this accident does not sufficiently show that the ATLAS was the cause of the in-flight upset from which the pilot was unable to recover," NTSB stated. 

Greg Feith, a former NTSB senior air safety investigator said the original report was far from complete and that the board failed to do its job.

"I don't think they did their job in that particular investigation," Feith said.

The previous report focused on winglets added to the plane in May 2018 to enhance performance. The equipment had been returned to the manufacturer for a correction in July before being reinstalled. The plane had about 193 flight hours from then until the crash. 

Download PDF Aviation Investigation Final Report - Feb. 23, 2024

But, the board that compiled the report only relied on one other incident involving wing extensions and ignored or overlooked basic key elements.

"They really failed to look at the pilot's background who was flying this aircraft; he was relatively new in the operation of the airplane, the board didn't look at other mechanical malfunctions of failures.” said Feith.

Feith said it's rare, but not unheard of for the board to issue a revised report. 

About six months after the crash, the FAA said all Cessna airplanes with that winglet system would have to be modified before being allowed to fly. The European Union followed suit. Since then, however, the ban has been lifted.

The previous report focused on winglets added to the plane in May 2018 to enhance performance.

Winglets are designed to save fuel and improve aerodynamic performance. The primary purpose is to reduce aerodynamic drag. Tamarack Aerospace Group installed the winglet system on the plane in May 2018.

"Tamarack is very pleased that the NTSB has decided to grant our Petition for Reconsideration concerning this 2018 accident and taken steps to correct multiple technical errors in the original investigation," Jacob Klinginsmith, Tamarack President, said in a news release. "The facts that were in there were just incorrect, either based on a misunderstanding or how our equipment works and functions and it's designed or other factors."

"This reversal shows the NTSB has the courage, professionalism, and proper process to make these corrections, and for that we applaud the NTSB," Klinginsmith said.

NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be "the pilot's inability to regain airplane control after a left roll that began for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence."

The plane was in route to Chicago when it crashed near Memphis, Indiana, just minutes after takeoff. 

Tamarack reached a confidential settlement with the families of those who died in the crash in 2023.

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