(LUDINGTON,MI) - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report into a small plane crash in Michigan on November 23, 2023 that killed an Angola couple. The pilot, 60-year-old Randy Strebig and his wife, 43-year-old Allison Wheaton, and their two dogs all died in the crash. They were flying from Mason County Airport back to Angola, Indiana after visiting family members over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The NTSB lists the probable cause of the crash as, "The pilot?s decision to take off with ice/snow contamination on the airplane?s wings." According to the report, snow and ice on the wings
resulted in an aerodynamic stall shortly after takeoff. The plane crashed in an open area about a quarter mile from the Mason County Airport. The report noted the pilot had recent flight training that included winter conditions. A toxicology report found only ibuprofen in the pilot's system at the time of the crash.