3 Oct 2009: BEECH E18S — BRAZORIA COUNTY

3 Oct 2009: BEECH E18S (N797SB) — BRAZORIA COUNTY

No fatalities • Jones Creek, TX, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to see and avoid the radio tower.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On October 3, 2009, approximately 1030 central daylight time, a Beech E18S, N797SB, operated by Brazoria County, Texas, and piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it struck a radio tower and impacted terrain while maneuvering near Lake Jackson, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The public use flight was being operated as an aerial application flight for mosquito control. The pilot, the sole occupant on board the airplane, was not injured. The flight originated at Brazoria County Airport (LBX), Angleton, Texas, approximately 0915.

According to the pilot's accident report, he was spraying a marshy area. After making a spray pass, the pilot made a right 180-degree turn to a easterly heading, and the right wing struck a radio tower. The pilot did not know the extent of the damage and there appeared to be a "controllability issue." He elected to land in a pasture. During the landing, the airplane struck and killed a cow and a bull, then collided with a pile of wood.

The on-scene investigation revealed the airplane landed in a field about a mile away. The left engine, left landing gear, and tail wheel were torn off. Parts of the communications antenna were still embedded in the right wing edge, just outboard of the engine. The right propeller was gouged.

According to the FAA inspector who went to the scene, the unlit 100-foot radio tower was within the walls of the Clemens Correctional Facility, was used for ground communications, and has been there for several years. It is not marked on the Houston Sectional Chart.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • cause Response/compensation
  • Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 010/08kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.