CHARLOTTE — The National Transportation Safety Board said that investigators found missing and disconnected hardware on the helicopter, the agency said in its final report that was released on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

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The report said that the cause of the crash was likely due to inadequate inspections by the pilot as well as the maintenance crew, the AP reported. It happened on Nov. 22, 2022, according to WSOC.

Both the pilot and a meteorologist at a North Carolina news station were killed in the helicopter crash, the AP reported. The pilot was identified as Chip Tayag and the meteorologist was identified as Jason Myers.

The helicopter crashed along Interstate 77 in Charlotte, WSOC reported. It was a Robinson R44 helicopter.

The helicopter was in the air for around five minutes before the pilot lost control of the aircraft, the news outlet reported.

“Three’s going down Sky Three’s going down,” Tayag said, according to NTSB’s report, per WSOC. Both Myers and Tayag died at the scene.

“The forward left control rod end that should have been connected to the stationary swashplate on the main rotor was disconnected and the connecting hardware was missing,” according to NTSB’s report.

It was possibly that other hardware was installed incorrectly about three years prior, the news outlet reported. The last time the helicopter received maintenance was on Oct. 21, 2022.

For more information, read NTSB’s full report.

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