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Feds probe repairs on plane

HONOLULU (AP) — Federal investigators will review repair and inspection records on the skydiving plane that became inverted before crashing shortly after takeoff on Oahu’s North Shore, killing all 11 people on board in the deadliest civil aviation accident since 2011.

The same plane that crashed Friday sustained substantial damage to its tail section in a 2016 accident while carrying skydivers over Northern California.

Repairs were then made to get the plane back into service, National Transportation Safety Board officials said at a news conference Sunday.

“We will be looking at the quality of those repairs and whether it was inspected and whether it was airworthy,” the NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy said.

The plane was equipped to carry 13 people, she said.

“Weight and balance has a factor in the safety of these operations and that’s a calculation that needs to be made before a plane is operated,” she said.

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