The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary information about last Friday’s fatal plane crash near Council Bluffs. According the NTSB, the pilot, 51-year-old Steve Ruhvord had filed an instrument flight plan with the FAA prior to departing Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

The twin-engine Cessna crashed into trees and the ground shortly after nine o’clock in the evening, just three miles south of the Council Bluffs Regional Airport, killing Ruhvord and three passengers. Weather conditions at the time required the pilot to fly using the plane’s instruments. Results from the investigation into the crash could take up to a year.

Audio: Radio Iowa’s Karla James report. :30 MP3