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Report says pilot became disoriented in fatal Atlanta plane crash

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, file photo, investigators work the scene of a small plane crash in a city park which killed all four people on board, in northwest Atlanta. The National Transportation Safety Board says in a report that Tennessee businessman Wei Chen, who was flying the plane, likely lost control after becoming disoriented in cloudy weather after taking off. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, file photo, investigators work the scene of a small plane crash in a city park which killed all four people on board, in northwest Atlanta. The National Transportation Safety Board says in a report that Tennessee businessman Wei Chen, who was flying the plane, likely lost control after becoming disoriented in cloudy weather after taking off. (AP Photo/John Amis, File) In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, file photo, investigators work the scene of a small plane crash in a city park which killed all four people on board, in northwest Atlanta. The National Transportation Safety Board says in a report that Tennessee businessman Wei Chen, who was flying the plane, likely lost control after becoming disoriented in cloudy weather after taking off. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)

By ADRIAN SAINZ / The Associated Press 2 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee businessman who was flying a plane that crashed in Georgia in 2018 likely lost control after becoming disoriented in cloudy weather after taking off, a National Transportation Safety Board report said.

Wei Chen and three passengers were killed in the December 2018 plane crash in Atlanta. Chen was a Memphis resident and CEO of Sunshine Enterprise Inc., which distributes Chinese construction and industrial equipment.

An experienced pilot who flew around the world in a single-engine airplane in 2011, Chen was at the controls of the Cessna 560 jet when it crashed on its way from Atlanta’s Fulton County Airport to Millington-Memphis Airport.

The NTSB report released in July said the plane took off in cloudy conditions and the pilot was using the aircraft’s instruments to fly.

The plane increased its rate of climb from about 3,500 feet (1,066 meters) per minute to 9,600 feet (2,926 meters) per minute before the plane slowed to about 86 miles per hour (138 kilometers per hour).