Safety agency: Washington small plane crashed on test flight

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal safety agency says that four people who died when a small plane crashed north of Seattle last month were conducting test flights to gather baseline information before the Cessna 208B was modified with a new aerodynamic drag reduction system. The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Saturday on the Nov. 18 crash in Snohomish, Washington. The agency says the crew of the Cessna 208B had already done three days of test flights before the day of the crash. Those killed included two experienced pilots, a flight test director and an instrumentation engineer.