The State - News from Dec. 29, 1985

An air traffic controller has told federal investigators that the pilot of a small airplane that crashed into a Concord shopping mall, killing four people and injuring 74, failed to comply with airport rules requiring pilots to fly to a higher altitude when they miss a landing approach. National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they were told the pilot, James M. Graham, 67, of Oakland, continued to fly at 400 feet to 500 feet after failing in his first attempt to land at Buchanan Field about one mile from Sun Valley Mall. Investigators said Graham, an experienced flier, had been advised seconds before the crash to contact a nearby Air Force base for radar assistance because of heavy fog.