Investigators of last week's plane crash near Buffalo found evidence that pilot error - and not ice build-up - may have led to the accident that killed 50 people, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the daily said the commuter plane slowed to an unsafe speed as it neared the airport, which prompted an automatic stall warning, and that the pilot pulled back on the Bombardier plane's controls and added power instead of pushing the plane's nose down and forward to regain speed.

The pilot's actions, they said, locked the plane in a stall, which caused it to plunge to earth, killing all 49 people aboard and one person on the ground.