Probe homes in on flight control panels

[DALLAS] Flight control panels used to lift off may have been locked in place on the Gulfstream jet carrying sports-franchise mogul Lewis Katz when it raced off a runway and crashed on May 31, according to investigators.

The controls, known as elevators, were in position to hold the plane's nose down and prevent it from flying, according to the aircraft data recorder, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday in an update posted on its website.

Mr Katz and six others died as the plane crashed and caught fire.