Bonanza Down in TX

[omega708]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Bad-weather-may-be-factor-in-plane-crash-173047891.html

There was a pretty strong cold front that blew in yesterday... Definitely could have played a role in the crash.

[DonMuncy]

For a very interesting aspect of this crash, look at Flightaware's track (check the Beech departure from Norhtwest Regional). It looks ]like he made multiple turns and twists, apparently trying to get into Terrell. The weather was pretty bad yesterday, and I suspect he was in the clouds most of the time.

[omega708]

Yeah, I looked at the track earlier in the day and was trying to figure out what was going on. I know it was windy and cold here in Central Texas and I think there was some precipitation to the North of us.

[aerobat95]

Looks like the plane went in hard....not much left of the aircraft from the pictures. Possibly CFIT? I wonder if maybe they had some sort of instrument problem that led to disorientation? Really sucks either way. What was the weather like? Ceiling and vis? Do you know if they were under an IFR flight plan?

[DonMuncy]

I don't know how one would know about his having a flight plan. I figure at best,it would have been marginal VFR. I'm nearby in Dallas, and all day it appeared that the ceilings was low; I would estimate generally 1000 ft or so, but I yield to anyone with knowledge of the actual conditions. I noted that the Flightaware plot showed him at 1500 feet for most of the time near the end of the flight. It would make sense that he was IMC during that time, but I suppose he didn't know that clear skies were available if he was able to duck under. My supposition is that ATC told him to maintain 1500 until established on an approach, and his meandering was an attempt to get to some spot to get lined up.

[bd32322]

I don't know how one would know about his having a flight plan. I figure at best,it would have been marginal VFR. I'm nearby in Dallas, and all day it appeared that the ceilings was low; I would estimate generally 1000 ft or so, but I yield to anyone with knowledge of the actual conditions. I noted that the Flightaware plot showed him at 1500 feet for most of the time near the end of the flight. It would make sense that he was IMC during that time, but I suppose he didn't know that clear skies were available if he was able to duck under. My supposition is that ATC told him to maintain 1500 until established on an approach, and his meandering was an attempt to get to some spot to get lined up.

1500 is low for any kind of IFR approach. Havent seen anything like that even in the flat north east. So probably a VFR into IMC incident

[DonMuncy]

I misspoke earlier. He was at 3000 ft, dropped down to 1000 and then back up to 3000. It looks like he went south of KTRL and then north to the airport. Maybe he used the GPS 35. If he missed the approach, the missed is "climb to 3000 and north to TUCUN". Since he seemed to stay very consistently at 3000 after the apparent miss, unless he was a lot better pilot than me, it looks as though his A/P was working.

Also very strange in that the flight plan said he was going to Athens. But it also said the destination was Terrell. I have to speculate he was filed to Athens, but then asked ATC for a change to KTRL. I'm not sure why one would do that except that the runway at KTRL is 5000 ft long, where Athens is a little under 4000.

If he did miss, I wonder why he would not make the relatively short hop to KTYR with multiple runways and a tower.

It was also strage that it seems the pilot was taking his sons (and their uncle) to Mississippi. It is hard to fathom why one would plan a stop in Athens (90 nm from departure) on a trip to Mississippi. Perhaps cheap fuel was available in Athens.

I await better information to see if it starts to make more sense.

[BigTex]

I actually planned on flying to Houston from Denton (near Roanoke) Saturday morning but scrubbed the flight because of low ceiling. Almost all of the flight south was MVFR with ceilings around 1800 with some pockets of 1100. Not sure if his flight plan was an IFR or not.

[N9453V]

Really tragic to hear about this crash. I don't have any personal knowledge about it, but from the FlightAware data, he was definitely on an IFR flight plan (FlightAware almost never picks up VFR flights unless a controller puts VFR flight following in as an IFR flight plan to share between Centers).

The WX at F44 at 0935 was 02007KT 3SM BR OVC005 14/13 A3012 which was below the GPS 17 and 35 LNAV minimums (no LPV) and at KTRL at 0953 it was 02010KT 10SM OVC006 12/09 A3016 which indicates it was well above the GPS 17 and 35 LPV minimums and still slightly above the LNAV minimums.

From the FAA data, it looks like he was issued his last airmen certificate on 08/12/11 (Private Pilot - ASEL, Instrument Airplane) and had a current Third Class medical.

I don't want to speculate, but it looks like a doable flight for a current and proficient instrument rated pilot, so perhaps there was a mechanical problem... if it was just low ceilings, DAL or RBD would have probably been a better option than TRL for a diversion.

-Andrew

[ChrisH]

I believe Waco has the ability to do PAR approaches, unfortunate that ATC didn't advise to divert to a better airport with either better wx, or capabilities to assist. But, agreed, we are fortunate here in Dallas to have a lot of great options for airports in the case of emergency.