NTSB Rules Out Weather in Oklahoma State Crash

Federal investigators say weather likely wasn’t a factor in the plane crash that killed two Oklahoma State women’s basketball coaches this week.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jason Aguilar said Saturday that the skies were clear and the winds were calm Thursday when a plane carrying head coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna crashed in central Arkansas.

Aguilar says investigators are focusing on the pilot and the airframe, and possibly a loss of control. But he says there was no evidence that would question the pilot’s qualifications to fly the plane.

Former Oklahoma state Sen. Olin Branstetter was piloting the small plane. The 82-year-old and his wife, Paula, also were killed in the crash.

Aguilar says it could be a year before a final NTSB report is completed.