Flight Details
The flight was conducting a landing under special VFR conditions, which permit operations with a visibility of 1 mile and clear of clouds. The airport was the pilot's base of operations. The pilot had held outside the airport surface area for 26 minutes, waiting for a special VFR clearance. During the hold, the pilot was required to maintain 500 feet above ground and 2 miles visibility. The pilot was new to the area, having worked at the company for 24 days, during which time he accrued 69 hours of flight time.
Weather Conditions
While holding, the weather at the airport was reported as 300 feet overcast. The visibility decreased from 4 miles to 1 mile in mist. Four minutes after receiving clearance to enter the surface area for landing, the airplane collided with a radio antenna tower.
Collision
The tower was 260 feet tall, and the collision occurred at 222 feet above ground. The tower was located 3.85 nautical miles east of the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration did not consider the tower to be an object affecting navigable airspace, but it was depicted as an obstruction on the VFR sectional chart for the area. The tower was equipped with obstruction lighting for night illumination and was painted alternating aviation orange and white for daytime marking.
Aftermath
One minute after the collision, the overcast was reported at 200 feet, and visibility was 5/8 mile.