India, March 20 -- The investigation of the tragic crash of an Alaska commuter plane that went missing nearly just last month has revealed that the plane took off nearly 1,000 pounds overweight and then flew off the radar. The accident was the third major plane crash in the United States in a week.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its initial findings on Wednesday, stating, "T]he airplane's estimated gross takeoff weight at departure was about 9,865 lbs, which was about 1,058 lbs over the maximum takeoff gross weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions."

The Bering Air Cessna flight, which crashed on February 6, was heavily overloaded for Alaska's anticipated icy weather conditions.

"It was also a...