Pilot of doomed plane 1,000 feet off runway

LAWRENCEVILLE - A plane that crashed on Christmas night in Gwinnett County, killing three members of a Florida family, was 1,100 feet left of an airport runway when it crashed, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.

Michael Mucha, the pilot, was making his second attempt to land in heavy fog at the Gwinnett County Airport-Briscoe Field. The tower controller told Mucha that he was left of the runway, which he acknowledged, before he crashed into trees and an asphalt conveyor machine at a construction site, according to the report released Friday.

Mucha, 44, his wife, Norma Ann, 43, and their daughter, Samantha, 16, all died in the crash. Mucha was the former owner of a flight-school.

The plane took off from the Palm Beach County Glades Airport near Pahokee, Fla.

Investigators won't know the actual cause of the crash for six months to a year, according to NTSB spokesman Paul Schlamm.

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