“Selfies” likely contributed to a single-engine plane crash east of Denver last May that killed two people, federal investigators said in a report released last week.

The National Transportation Safety Board said a GoPro video camera was found near the plane’s wreckage in Watkins, about 25 miles east of Denver. Recordings on the device showed several flights where the pilot and his passengers were taking “self-photographs” with their cellphones.

In one recording, the pilot was captured using the flash at night to take selfies during the plane’s intitial climb and flight, the NTSB said. The deadly flight itself was not captured on the GoPro.

“Post-accident examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation,” the NTSB said in their report, released Friday. “Based on the wreckage distribution, which was consistent with a high-speed impact, and the degraded visual reference conditions, it is likely that the pilot experienced spatial disorientation and lost control of the airplane.”

Investigators found that the plane’s crash was likely caused by an aerodynamic stall and “subsequent spin into terrain.”

“It is likely that cell phone use during the accident flight distracted the pilot and contributed to the development of spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control,” the report says.

Family members said Amritpal Singh, 29, was flying the plane when it crashed, killing him. The aircraft was registered to Singh.

The plane, a Cessna-150 two-seater built in 1970, took off just after midnight on May 31, 2014 from Front Range Airport in Adams County. It was reported missing by Singh’s family at 3:45 a.m. and the plane’s wreckage was found at about 7:30 a.m.

Singh’s family said the passenger killed in the crash was Jatinder Singh, 31. a musician in town for a concert at Adams City High School and that Amritpal Singh was giving airplane rides to some of the people in town for the concert.

The plane crashed in an open field, leaving it in a mangled ball.

“The airplane impacted a field and bounced one time before it came to rest upright,” the NTSB said.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul