Cessna 172 N254RA

Summary

On 21 December 2018 at about 17:45 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N254RA was involved in an accident near Abilene, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 December 2018 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Abilene, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Abilene Regional Airport (ABI)

Coordinates

32.2600, -99.5664

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N254RA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Temple → Snyder

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19LA070

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to see and avoid a cell tower wire during a pipeline patrol flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's distraction due to writing down observations about the pipeline while flying.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a pipeline patrol flight. He reported that, while he was looking down in the cockpit writing down observations about the pipeline, he felt the airplane pull left; the airplane had struck a cell tower wire. The pilot stated that he did not see the wire because he was looking down. The pilot was able to control the airplane, immediately declared an emergency, and landed at an airport about 10 miles north of where the wire strike occurred. Examination of the airplane revealed that a 4-ft-long section of the left wing was torn off the airplane, just outboard of the left aileron. The pilot stated that many pipeline patrol operations have an observer onboard in addition to the pilot, one of whom looks outside the airplane to observe the pipeline while the other person writes down the observations. He also stated that he could have waited to write down information after passing the tower area.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.