NTSB IMAGE VIA PENNLIVE This screenshot from the National Transportation Safety Board shows the route of the plane Maisie E. Bitler was flying before it crashed. Route 220 is at the very bottom.

LOCK HAVEN — The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded pilot error caused the 2024 airplane crash in Clinton County that killed a student pilot on her second solo flight.

The accident likely would not have occurred had Maisie E. Bitler, 17, established an appropriate climb air speed and altitude after she pulled up during final approach to the William T. Piper Airport in Lock Haven, the NTSB said.

It lists the probable cause of the crash as Bitler’s premature turn to the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern at low air speed and altitude.

The agency’s final report on its investigation into the July 4, 2024, crash states that flight track data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed Bitler, who had logged only 30 minutes of solo flight, had departed Williamsport Regional Airport at 9:51 a.m. and headed to Lock Haven.

She entered the traffic pattern for the Piper Airport on the downwind leg and proceeded to line up on final approach for the 3,799 foot-long runway.

About halfway down the runway, consistent with a touch-and-go landing, the Cessna 172 climbed and immediately turned left to enter the crosswind leg.

A witness reported he thought the plane would not clear the trees in its direct flight path. He also stated “the engine was running without hesitation; however, the airplane was struggling.”

At about 10:10 a.m. it struck the top of a tree at near stall speed, hit a second tree, came to rest at its base and burst into flames along Allegheny Street in Woodward Twp.

The location is across the Susquehanna River from the Piper Airport.

Post-accident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal evidence of any preexisting mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.

An autopsy determined Bitler, a recent Hughesville High School graduate, died from thermal injuries. Postmortem toxicological testing was negative for drugs and ethanol.

Her pilot logbook included an endorsement from her flight instructor to perform takeoffs and landings at the Lock Haven airport.

The instructor was not aware she was planning to fly that day although he had discussed many times with her the need to coordinate before doing so.

Visual flight rules of the Quarter to Two Flying Club, to which the Cessna was registered, state: “Student pilots will not operate aircraft without specific permission from their flight instructor.”

The flight instructor reported Bitler was attentive, knowledgeable, had become an “outstanding” student and her progress during ground and flight training was exceptional.

She had no problems that held her back from making solo flights or with traffic pattern work and they had flown to Lock Haven previously.

Bitler had been accepted to an aviation school to eventually become a professional pilot.

She held the rank of captain/1st lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.