Accident Overview
On September 15, 2008, a Cessna 421B, registration N7560Q, was substantially damaged after colliding with mountainous terrain approximately 28 miles northwest of Ojinaga, Mexico, near the border town of Presidio, Texas. The air transport rated pilot and the three passengers were fatally injured.
Flight Details
The pilot contacted the Fort Worth Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) in Fort Worth, Texas, at 1016, approximately 15 minutes after departing El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan to Presidio, Texas, was filed. The pilot informed an AFSS specialist that he intended to enter Mexican airspace to fly over the Luis Leon Dam but had no intentions of landing in Mexico. The pilot did not request a weather briefing for the flight; however, the specialist advised that VFR was not recommended due to mountain obscuration.
Occupants and Purpose
Onboard the aircraft were the pilot, the United States and Mexican Commissioners of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), and the Executive Director for the Rio Grande Council of Governments. The purpose of the flight was to assess Rio Grande flood conditions at Presidio-Ojinaga and to coordinate joint US-Mexican efforts with local officials regarding flood control concerns due to heavy inflows to the Rio Grande from reservoirs in Mexico resulting from recent storms.
Wreckage Location
The airplane wreckage was located on September 17, 2008, by the Marfa Sector of the US Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Division, on the west side of the Sierra Grande Mountains at an approximate elevation of 6,500 feet mean sea level (msl). The airplane came to rest approximately 100–150 feet below the top of a ridgeline, on a heading of 055 degrees along victor-airway V81.