A preliminary federal report says poor weather was reported in an Alaska Range mountain pass shortly after a twin-engine airplane crashed there last week.
The crash in Broad Pass near Cantwell killed the pilot, 61-year-old Dale Hemman of Steilacoom, Wash., and two South Carolina passengers, 74-year-old John Ellenberg of Greenville and 52-year-old Laurie Buckner of Simpsonville.
Herman was the operator of flying tour group business, Let's Fly Alaska.
He was leading a group of 19 planes from his base in Fairbanks to Homer.
A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report says other airplanes turned back from Windy Pass as weather deteriorated.
NTSB investigators recovered five video cameras mounted on the crashed plane's exterior. The have been sent to the agency's vehicle recorder laboratory in Washington, DC, for review.