What happened
The flight was operating under special VFR conditions, which permit operations with 1 mile visibility and clear of clouds. The airport involved served as the pilot's base of operations. Prior to landing, the aircraft held outside the airport surface area for 26 minutes while awaiting a special VFR clearance. During this holding period, the pilot was required to maintain 500 feet above the ground and 2 miles visibility.
While the aircraft was holding, weather conditions at the airport were reported as 300-foot overcast, with visibility decreasing from 4 miles to 1 mile in mist. The pilot was relatively new to the area of operations, having been with the company for 24 days and possessing 69 hours of flight time.
Four minutes after receiving clearance to enter the surface area for landing, the airplane collided with a radio antenna tower. The tower stood 260 feet tall, and the collision occurred at an altitude of 222 feet above the ground. The structure was located 3.85 nautical miles east of the airport. Although the FAA did not consider the tower an object affecting navigable airspace, it was depicted as an obstruction on the VFR sectional chart for the area. The tower featured alternating aviation orange and white paint for daytime marking and was equipped with obstruction lighting for night use.
One minute after the collision, weather reports indicated the overcast had dropped to 200 feet and visibility had decreased to 5/8 mile.