NTSB says pilots of the Cessna 172 and Sabreliner that collided near San Diego Brown Field Municipal Airport on August 16 were in contact with the tower.
Airplane hit a near-vertical rock face in a nose-high, wings-level attitude at an elevation of 1,600 feet msl and came to rest upright on steep terrain.
Fatalities in turbine business airplane accidents dropped 37 percent, to 17 in the first three months of this year from 27 in the same period last year.