What happened
While operating under special VFR conditions, an aircraft was attempting to land at its base of operations. Prior to the accident, the flight had been holding outside the airport surface area for 26 minutes while awaiting clearance. During this holding period, the pilot was required to maintain a minimum of 500 feet above the ground and 2 miles of visibility. Weather conditions at the airport were deteriorating, with reports of 300-foot overcast and visibility dropping from 4 miles to 1 mile due to mist.
Four minutes after the pilot received clearance to enter the airport surface area for the landing sequence, the aircraft struck a radio antenna tower. The impact occurred at an altitude of 222 feet, though the structure itself stands 260 feet tall. The collision took place approximately 3.85 nautical miles east of the airport. At the time of the impact, the tower was marked with alternating orange and white paint for daytime visibility and was equipped with lighting for night use. Shortly after the crash, weather reports indicated the overcast had lowered to 200 feet and visibility had further reduced to 5/8 mile.
Findings
- The pilot was relatively inexperienced in the local area, having only 69 total flight hours with the company over a 24-day period.
- Decreasing visibility and low cloud ceilings created challenging flying conditions during the transition to the surface area.
- Although the radio tower was listed as an obstruction on the VFR sectional chart, it was not classified by the FAA as an object affecting navigable airspace.