FREDRICKSBURG, Texas (KXAN) — A San Antonio man died when his Beechcraft Bonanza crashed and caught fire near Kerr Road in Fredericksburg late Thursday evening.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Orlando Moreno, the Beechcraft Bonanza crash occurred at 4:50 p.m. and only one man — the pilot — was aboard. He was declared dead on arrival of first responders.
The Federal Aviation Administration began an investigation Friday and while the cause of the plane crash are unclear, the Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that the pilot issued a mayday call right before. The Federal Aviation Administration also learned that the man, whose identity has not been released, was an experienced pilot who was out on a leisure flight to take advantage of the nice weather Thursday. A Houston pilot reported hearing the mayday call and relaying the message to the local Federal Aviation Administration office.
The Federal Aviation Administration also indicated that the government shutdown has impacted the investigation and response time, as ordinarily the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration would send an investigator right away, however, due to the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration had to send for a furloughed representative. The representative is performing his job for both organizations.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration reports that while there is no tower at the Gillespie County Airport, staffing it would also have been affected by the shutdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration says nothing about the crash looks out of the ordinary but the government shutdown is affecting initial inspection of the plane, which takes place in Dallas. The plane is stuck in Fredericksburg for the time being, and while such investigations can take up to a year, the shutdown could prolong this investigation even further.
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