GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Determining that he would not be able to reach the runway at the Granite Falls Airport for an emergency landing, the flight instructor piloting the jet that crashed a month ago south of Granite Falls told his fellow occupant three times to eject before he did so himself, according to a preliminary report recently filed by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The occupant, David Colin Dacus, 46, of San Francisco, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash that occurred shortly before 5:30 p.m. July 21 along Minnesota Highway 23. He was found restrained in the rear ejection seat of the wreckage.

Dacus had a private pilot’s certificate, but was on the flight as a pilot-in-training to be certified for the jet he was interested in purchasing.

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