Air traffic control warned pilot that he was flying to low before crash

Moments before a small private airplane crashed into power lines in Maryland on Sunday evening, air traffic controllers urgently warned the pilot that the aircraft was flying too low, according to archived recordings.

"N201RF, if you hear this transmission, low altitude alert," said a controller from Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control in the transmission recording, accessed from LiveATC.net.

The controller repeated the current air pressure to give the pilot a more accurate read of his height above sea level.

Earlier in the flight, the pilot apparently missed assigned directives from the controller who explained he was worried the single-engine Mooney airplane would stray into the path of commercial flights approaching nearby Washington Dulles International Airport.