Accident Details
On December 21, 2018, at approximately 1145 central standard time, a Cessna 172M, registration N254RA, collided with a tower wire about 10 miles south of the Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) in Abilene, Texas. The aircraft was registered to and operated by Reynolds Aviation of Beach City, Texas. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which was conducted under Part 91 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The flight originated at about 1000 from the Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (TPL) in Temple, Texas, and was en route to the Winston Field Airport (SNK) in Snyder, Texas. The purpose of the flight was a pipeline aerial observation.
Pilot Statement
According to the pilot, he was conducting an aerial pipeline inspection. He reported that he was looking down in the cockpit, writing down pipeline observation information, when he felt a pull to the left. The aircraft then struck a tower wire. The pilot stated that he did not see the tower wires. After the strike, he was able to maintain control of the aircraft, immediately declared an emergency, and landed at Abilene Regional Airport, which was about 10 miles north of the location of the wire strike.
In his statement on NTSB Form 6120, the pilot noted that many pipeline patrol operations typically have an observer on board in addition to the pilot, with one person writing down information and another looking outside the aircraft. He also acknowledged that he could have waited to write down the information after passing the tower area.
Aircraft Damage
Inspection of the aircraft revealed that a 4-foot section of the left wing was torn off, just outboard of the left aileron. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
Figure 1 provides an overhead image of the pipeline route and the locations of towers and wires.