Cargo plane improperly loaded in crash that killed 6 Michigan men

The feds are releasing new details about the 2013 cargo plane crash in Afghanistan that killed seven crew members, six of them from Michigan.
    
The Hasler family arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, coming home after reliving an unimaginable tragedy.

They also heard the final word from the investigative agency, the National Transportation and Safety Board regarding a fatal plane crash that happened two years ago.

Brad Hasler of Trenton was the pilot of a National Air Cargo plane bound for Dubai from Afghanistan. The crash was caught on the camera of a passing car and uploaded to Youtube. 

"We were able to find out what we already knew," said Robin Hasler, Brad's widow. "Which was that the crew - my husband - was not at fault and not to blame for what happened in this accident."

Some tried to say there was a possible explosion on board causing the crash.

"When you look at that video there is no explosion until the plane hits the ground," said Bill Hasler, the pilot's brother. "That plane was out of control. The crew had no control over that airplane."

The commercial plane was hauling five mine-resistant ambush vehicles. The cargo plane was only equipped to haul one of those vehicles.

The vehicles were found to be improperly strapped down. And it was the shifting of that heavy cargo which caused the plane to crash, according to the findings, killing all seven on board.

"I want to just get that exclamation point on what I already knew," Bill said. "Those seven men, that wonderful crew, they were victims in this whole thing - and that's tragic."

In addition to being a pilot, Brad was married with three daughters, including a 1-year-old he never met.

"Harlow, the 1-year-old, she sadly was born after my brother died," Bill said. "She never got to meet her daddy. But my mom's very good and so's my sister-in-law, showing her pictures of him.

"She knows who he is, but it's hard to live knowing that she's never felt the kiss of his lips or the warmth of his hand. That's the tragedy."

The family says they've always known it was never the fault of any of the crew. Instead, learning from the findings of the investigation, it was the fault of the company for improper loading of the plane. 

It's a mistake they hope is never duplicated again, so that no one will experience the pain they live with every day.

"There's no moving on," Robin said. "There's just the day to day conflict with yourself of trying to move forward."