History of Flight
On April 5, 2022, about 1231 central daylight time, a Cessna TU206F airplane, N858JA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Marlin, Texas. The pilot and pilot-rated observer were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 aerial observation flight.
The airplane departed Houston Executive Airport (TME), Houston, Texas, on a pipeline inspection flight with a destination of Waco, Texas. Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast and GPS data indicated the airplane first appeared at 1038, south of TME. The airplane tracked north northwest toward Waco and climbed to 4,000 ft mean sea level. About 1.5 hours into the flight, the airplane turned southwest and began a series of maneuvering turns over the pipeline area. It continued southwest and worked its way to a location 20 miles south of Waco, then turned east toward Marlin Airport (T15), Marlin, Texas. The pilot contacted Waco Approach Control and informed them he was landing at T15.
The airplane overflew the south edge of the airport and entered a left downwind traffic pattern for runway 17. It continued to a left base leg and then final. An armory security camera recorded the airplane on final approach. The airplane touched down just past the approach end of the runway and bounced back into the air. It touched down a second time in the grass just right of the runway, struck a runway light, veered back onto the runway, crossed it, and departed the left side. The airplane then disappeared behind a building.
GPS data showed the airplane touchdown on the runway, became airborne again, and touched down off the right side. It turned northeast, crossed the runway, and became airborne again. It climbed to about 75 ft above ground level, crossed a road running parallel to the runway east of the airport, and then entered a rapid descent until track data was lost at 1231:06. The airplane was about 1,800 ft southeast of the approach end of runway 17 when track data was lost.
Personnel Information
The pilot's wife reported that he meticulously kept a master logbook that he updated weekly. However, the logbook was not located. She stated he had recently met a personal milestone of 1,500 total hours a few weeks before the accident. She also stated it would have been out of character for him, as the pilot responsible for the flight, to give flight controls to the other pilot. The pilot kept a notebook of flight hours by tachometer and Hobbs meter readings, which was found at the accident site. On review, between September 21, 2021, and the day of the accident, the pilot had logged 742.1 hours.
The pilot was hired by the company in August 2020 as a subcontractor pilot. In February 2022, the company hired him as an employee pilot. Per the company's training records, on March 31, 2022, he had 203.6 hours as pilot-in-command on visual flights.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The accident site was in a treed pasture on the east side of a gravel road along the east side of T15, 1 mile northeast of Marlin, Texas. The elevation was 410 ft and the terrain was predominantly flat.
The airplane impacted in a near vertical attitude and rested upright on its main landing gear and nose on a heading of 281°.
The main wreckage, located about 340 ft east of the runway, consisted of the fuselage, both wings, main landing gear, engine, and empennage. The propeller and nose landing gear were west of the airplane. A debris field with broken pieces of windscreen, cowling, glareshield, and instrument panel was between the airplane and propeller. An additional debris area with the left-wing tip was beneath a tree about 90 ft west-northwest of the airplane. A broken tree branch was among the debris.
The propeller was 33 ft west of the main wreckage, embedded about 1 ft into the ground. It was broken torsionally at the flange, and all three blades showed S-bending and chordwise scratches. A 4 ft by 4 ft impact crater was beneath the propeller, containing pieces of the windscreen. Two 6-inch wide and 15 ft long impressions extended east and west from the crater. At the end of the east impression were pieces of the right-wing tip and position light.
A second tree 15 ft south of the impact crater had several broken branches found on the ground between the propeller and tree.
On-scene examination of the airframe, flight controls, and engine revealed no preaccident malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.