By Joe Brandt

Pilot error may have contributed to the plane crash that killed Temple trustee Lewis Katz and six others while taking off from an airfield near Boston on the night of May 31, according to a federal report.

The National Transportation Safety Board, a federal entity that investigates transportation accidents, released a preliminary report of the incident on its website Friday, June 13.

The Gulfstream IV was equipped with a gust-control system that could lock certain plane components in place such as the tail flaps, known as elevators, and the wing flaps, called ailerons. The system is intended to protect these parts from potentially damaging wind gusts while the plane is parked, according to the report. The report stated that winds were calm during takeoff.

NTSB analysis of the cockpit’s flight data recorder showed that the pilots performed no control check before the flight, and that “elevator control surface position during the taxi and takeoff was consistent with its position if the gust lock was engaged,” the report read.

Investigation of the cockpit showed that the gust lock switch was found in the “off” position and that a separate latch to gust lock the tail flaps was off as well.

The plane, which was co-owned through a limited liability company and had logged nearly 5,000 hours of flight, never took off and instead went off the end of the runway and crashed through lighting and an antenna before landing in a gulley and erupting in flames.

According to the report, tire marks that indicate braking started 1,300 feet, or nearly 400 meters, from the end of the runway. According to a flight data recorder, numerous braking mechanisms were activated and the plane was going 100 knots, or roughly 115 miles per hour.

The NTSB added that the report is preliminary and subject to change.

The three passengers—Susan K. Asbell, 68, Marcella Dalsey, 59, and Anne Leeds, 74—were all friends of Katz. The crew on-board included pilot James McDowell, 51, copilot Bauke “Mike” de Vries, 45, and flight attendant Teresa Ann Bernhoff, 48 had all worked for Katz for at least 10 years.

Katz was honored in a memorial service held June 4 at Temple’s Performing Arts Center, with speakers including former President Bill Clinton, Governor Corbett, trustee and comedian Bill Cosby and Katz’s family.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.