Stolen plane in Texas
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 2:47 pm
Stolen plane flies through power lines in Texas and crashes, pilot vanishes
Monday March 01, 2004
LAKE JACKSON, Texas (AP)
A stolen single-engine airplane flew through power lines, blacking out about 11,000 customers, and then crashed, and the pilot vanished. The FBI joined the investigation and planned to question the owners of other aircraft based at the Brazoria County Airport, said Louis Jones, the county aviation director.
Investigators believe the thief broke into 16 hangars early Sunday before finding a Cessna 172 he was able to commandeer, Jones said. After taking off, the plane severed a series of power lines about two miles southeast of the airport, cutting power to customers in the Lake Jackson area, and then crashed into a field. The impact sheared off the plane's tail and folded back its wings.
``No pilot was found at the crash site,'' Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the Houston Chronicle. Investigators found tracks leading from the wreckage. Heavy haze and fog limited visibility and may have contributed to the crash, authorities said.
Source
Monday March 01, 2004
LAKE JACKSON, Texas (AP)
A stolen single-engine airplane flew through power lines, blacking out about 11,000 customers, and then crashed, and the pilot vanished. The FBI joined the investigation and planned to question the owners of other aircraft based at the Brazoria County Airport, said Louis Jones, the county aviation director.
Investigators believe the thief broke into 16 hangars early Sunday before finding a Cessna 172 he was able to commandeer, Jones said. After taking off, the plane severed a series of power lines about two miles southeast of the airport, cutting power to customers in the Lake Jackson area, and then crashed into a field. The impact sheared off the plane's tail and folded back its wings.
``No pilot was found at the crash site,'' Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the Houston Chronicle. Investigators found tracks leading from the wreckage. Heavy haze and fog limited visibility and may have contributed to the crash, authorities said.
Source