Cessna 150 crash near Tyler TX, 1 fatality

[lsaway]

Reported on KPRC News:

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — A Jacksonville man was killed following a small plane crashed Monday afternoon near the Cherokee County Airport.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, around 3:00 p.m. troopers responded to a reported plane crash in a field off of County Road 4303, seven miles north of New Summerfield in Cherokee County.
Investigator's preliminary report indicates that the pilot of a Cessna 150, Keith Michael McElvain, 76, had taken off from the Cherokee County Airport at around 12:05 p.m. The crash occurred after the aircraft appeared to have struck the guide wires for a television tower in the Ponta area, east of Jacksonville.
McElvain, who was the only occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene and was taken to Autry Funeral Home in Jacksonville.
Troopers will continue to secure the scene until investigators with NTSB arrive Tuesday to continue the investigation.

 

[Jim Carpenter]

RIP
Weather looks to have been clear all day. Looking at the sectional chart for the area, there is a very tall tower right near the described accident site, and lots of other towers in the area.

 

[Van Johnston]

That’s what I fear more than an engine out...flying into a tower or it’s wires.

 

[Velocity173]

Years ago a Black Hawk hit guy wires south of Waco. Essentially split the aircraft in two. It’s believed that they probably saw the tower but had forgotten about the guy wires. Nasty things those guy wires.

 

[Lowflynjack]

Years ago a Black Hawk hit guy wires south of Waco. Essentially split the aircraft in two. It’s believed that they probably saw the tower but had forgotten about the guy wires. Nasty things those guy wires.

I live in Central TX and remember that night. It was very foggy and there are 5 large towers there. People had been reporting one of the lights was out for quite awhile. I remember the discussions in McGregor that morning about the fall after you hit something like that and the terror those poor soldiers must have felt.

 

[Velocity173]

I live in Central TX and remember that night. It was very foggy and there are 5 large towers there. People had been reporting one of the lights was out for quite awhile. I remember the discussions in McGregor that morning about the fall after you hit something like that and the terror those poor soldiers must have felt.

Yeah I sat thru the accident brief on that one at theater on safety day. Definitely poor weather, possibility internal pressure on getting the general to his meeting. Gruesome details on how the accident occurred. The wire was like a hot knife thru butter. Actually had met the PIC a few months prior in Iraq.

 

[Stephen Shore]

Many years ago when I was 18 years old I was flying south of Texarkana TX scud running (which was easier on those days due to no cell towers) and all of a sudden I found myself flying between two gigantic towers. Scared the living you know what out of me. That was in 1982 and I have forgotten about alot of my life events since then, but never that one.

 

[Stephen Shore]

Tower near Ponta shows to be 1,586 AGL. Definitely a tall one.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

His wife says that he was taking aerial photos and "something went wrong".

 

[frfly172]

RIP

 

[GRG55]

That’s what I fear more than an engine out...flying into a tower or it’s wires.

What's that old saw about "nothing more useless than runway behind you and air above you"...

Many years ago when I was 18 years old I was flying south of Texarkana TX scud running (which was easier on those days due to no cell towers) and all of a sudden I found myself flying between two gigantic towers. Scared the living you know what out of me. That was in 1982 and I have forgotten about alot of my life events since then, but never that one.

I live in hill country. The towers are on the tops of ridges and mountains and therefore not very tall AGL. Years ago on my first trip to Oshkosh in my little Cherokee I was flying with a pilot companion not far east of Brainerd, Minnesota, where we had just completed a fuel stop. I was at 2000 AGL, in great visibility, which is plenty fine out west. Looked out the window and noticed a tower strobe about a mile or two away at the same altitude as we were. Asked my friend to check the chart. Yup, 2000 feet tall. More than one in the area. Never ever imagined anything like that, given the previously sheltered flying life I had led out west. Learned something useful that day.

 

[t3chiman]

It's mainly superboondocks where these tall towers are located. North Dakota has the two tallest structures in North America, for example. But, 13 miles NorthEast of Sioux City, there's a real 2000 ft tall tower. The sectional Max Elevation Figure takes a big jump in that region, 1000 ft more than the surrounding ones.

 

[smv]

It's mainly superboondocks where these tall towers are located. North Dakota has the two tallest structures in North America, for example.

"Superboondocks"?

Yah, these are located between Grand Forks and Fargo...