NTSB says pilot involved in fatal collision didn't see other plane until last second. Float-equipped Cessna 206, N756MP, and a float-equipped Cessna 180, N5214E. Accident occurred July 30, 2011 in Talkeetna, Alaska.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Preliminary Report

A pilot involved in a midair collision that killed four people southwest of Talkeetna last month told investigators he didn't see the other plane approaching until moments before the crash, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.

The preliminary report, released Tuesday, detailed the lethal collision.

One pilot, 56-year-old Kevin Earp, had just taken off from Sister Lake the afternoon of July 30 and was about to land his floatplane -- a Cessna 206 -- at Amber Lake, about a mile away, the report says.

Earp then caught a glimpse of another plane coming at him from his right, according to the report.

Earp, a veteran pilot for Alaska Airlines, steered his plane up and to the left, the report says. It was too late. The planes struck, damaging Earp's floats and sending the other plane to the ground where it burst into flames, the transportation safety board reports.

Inside the crashed Cessna 180 were pilot Corey Carlson, his wife, Hetty Barnett Carlson, and their two young children, 5-year-old Ella and 3-year-old Adelaide, according to family members.

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