The Nation - News from Oct. 26, 1988

National Transportation Safety Board investigators blamed a quick turn during takeoff for the crash of an AVAir commuter plane last February at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport. The AVAir plane, flying as American Eagle Flight 378, crashed shortly after it left the airport in dense fog on Feb. 19, landing in a wooded area about a mile from the runway. The crash killed all 12 people on board. The investigation disclosed that the co-pilot, Kathleen Digan, 28, who had been hired by AVAir in May, 1987, had a spotty training record and, on a number of occasions, had been given poor evaluations by various AVAir captains. Investigators determined that Digan was at the controls when the Metro III commuter plane took off from Raleigh-Durham, although there was evidence that the captain, Walter Cole, 38, attempted to help keep the aircraft aloft in the final seconds.