The 58-year-old pilot who died in a small plane crash in Lancaster County last month had just refueled before his aircraft nose-dived moments after takeoff, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in its preliminary report released Wednesday.

Musaddiq Nazeeri, a doctor and the founding member of Nazeeri Family Medicine in Lebanon, took off from Lancaster airport around 8 a.m. July 20 after topping off his Piper PA-46 Meridian with gas and performing a preflight inspection.

Everything was routine as Nazeeri taxied, but the NTSB noted he did not read back that he was cleared for takeoff before entering the runway and lifting off for State College.

After gaining 650 feet of elevation at a ground speed of about 156 miles per hour, the plane “suddenly pitched down” for an unk

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