Plane down in Lubbock, TX

SpiraMirabilis

SpiraMirabilis

Possible Subversive
I was just behind him on the approach, I don't have many details. Was a private plane, maybe a Meridian. He sounded like he was struggling a little bit with the weather and IFR but that's my speculation.

Weather conditions were lowish IFR (I broke out at 600 AGL) but good visibility and I picked up moderate rime icing on the approach but I would not characterize the approach as challenging or out of the ordinary.
 
What I can find says it's a Piper Malibu (N301D). Hit a TV tower. Tower appears to be between 7 and 8 miles south of the airport. According to the FCC, that tower stands at 760ft AGL, which would put it above the ceiling if it were truly at 600ft. I would so maybe he broke minimums for that section of the approach, but that is super low, not just an "oh, I went a bit below mins"

ATC feeds for LBB have been down for the last week.
 
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The approach he was doing was the RNAV Y 35L. The only thing I can think of is he wasn't able to do the LPV and descended down to the MDA before the FAF.
 
WFAA reports it was a Cessna 441 on approach to Denton. Pilot was the only one on board. RIP

Also said the plane was largely intact at the crash scene.
 
The LBB pilot was a doctor. He apparently knocked Channel 11 offline as he hit their main transmitting tower. Some classy comments on one of the news articles complaining about missing shows.
 
Very sad. Both the crash and the fact that people lose their manners when they lose their tv signal.
 
I can't seem to figure out which one on the RNAV Y 35L it is. I know it is located near the halfway point of UFACI and ZOVOC, but not sure laterally where he was.

According to the news articles, this is the data for the tower he hit (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=27507)

It states that the height of it in MSL is 3,956ft. Can't find any tower on the chart near that height.
 
Colin Levy said:
I can't seem to figure out which one on the RNAV Y 35L it is. I know it is located near the halfway point of UFACI and ZOVOC, but not sure laterally where he was.

According to the news articles, this is the data for the tower he hit (http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=27507)

It states that the height of it in MSL is 3,956ft. Can't find any tower on the chart near that height.
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I came up with 4017' Msl and 3960' Msl from that link(my info was in meters). Not sure why there are 2 heights listed on that link you posted but the highlighted one on the plate is pretty close to 4017.

image.jpg
 
TXsky said:
Another plane down in Denton county, TX; https://twitter.com/DFWscanner

Cold front blew through a few hours ago
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FlySooner9 said:
N441TG appears to be the tail number based off flight aware. Was enroute from MN
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I was about 5 miles south of this guy when he crashed apparently. I remember hearing his callsign but don't recall anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't low IFR and no icing.

Anybody know whats the range on those conquests? Minny Soda is a pretty long haul to here.
 
The Cessna 441 Conquest II's have a long range, around 2,000 miles if I remember correctly. His flight was close to 900nm, so not too long for that aircraft.
 
Last news report on the LBB crash indicates the plane hit one of the guy wires NOT the tower itself. Which means he was a couple of hundred feet BELOW the top of the tower in addition to being around 600' under approach mins. AND he was approximately 1/2 mile West of course line. Ouch!
RIP to both pilots........
 
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such a dang shame. Altitudes are there for a reason. Although i know from experience that in certain situations every single cell in your body is telling you to just get below the cloud deck and out of the ice. Had a situation once in a C-182 picking up ice in night IMC in Arkansas. Was forced to shoot a GPS approach to near minimums. I remember wanting to get out of those clouds so bad at that moment. However i stuck to those step downs and that next morning when i saw the hills everywhere i sure was glad i stuck to my training. To this day probably one of the best learning experiences in my career. However its a shame how often it goes the other way and we see tragedies like this happen.
 
I remember doing one of those bowel canyon approaches in Oregon and did it IMC the first time and VMC the day after. Woah I'm glad those step downs were adhered to!
 
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