Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Beechcraft 60 Duke, N523AA

http://registry.faa.gov/N523AA


WALLER COUNTY, Texas—Authorities are still trying to track down the missing pilot of a pot-filled plane that made a hard landing at a small airport in Brookshire Monday night. 

 The twin-engine aircraft made an unscheduled landing at Houston Executive Airport, located at 1900 Cardiff Road, around 7:15 p.m. Investigators said there was no communication with the tower and no mayday was ever called.

Investigators said it appears the plane’s front nose gear was damaged or missing. The nose went down on the air field, then skidded off into the grass.

The pilot was gone by the time emergency crews arrived to the field, but there was cargo left inside – as much as 100 pounds of marijuana, according to authorities.

Investigators said it appears whoever was aboard tried to carry the bricks of marijuana off the plane, but bolted and left the drugs behind.

Multiple law enforcement agencies began a manhunt to find the suspect or suspects who were on the plane, but came up empty-handed.

"We were assisted by HPD, DPS and even HPD Fox Unit assisted us using their night vision in an attempt to locate the individuals, but no sign of them," said Chief Deputy John Kremmer, Waller County Sheriff’s Office.

Even though the airport is "in the middle of nowhere," whoever was on the plane made a fast getaway.

"They had a few minutes head start and with cell phones these days, they could have called someone to come pick them up," Chief Kremmer said.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith said the plane’s original owner died several months ago and his family recently sold the plane at auction.

Authorities would only say the new owner is from a southern state to the east of Texas. They said the new owner had flown to the Houston Executive Airport before.

Andrew Perry, the executive director of Houston Executive Airport said, "I believe last weekend or something like that, [it] had been through here. A day or two before, bought some fuel and took off. That’s common."

Perry added corporate planes are not required to have a flight plan, but the pilots must communicate with the airport before they land.

"We do know for a fact they did not have permission to land at the time," Smith said. "It obviously was an emergency landing or they planned on setting down and taking right back off."

Authorities have different theories as to why the plane returned to the Houston airport.

"He could have been flying, dumping bundles too, with no intentions of landing," Smith said. "Of course, past experience has told us that. We’re going to have other planes and other helicopters start flying the area, in circular motions some five to 10 miles out checking pastures."

Watch Video


WALLER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE



Waller County Sheriff's Office
Marijuana taken from a twin-engine plane.




A Jamaican-born Georgia man with a lengthy criminal record is the owner of an airplane packed with marijuana that made an unapproved landing at a private airport in Waller County, officials said Tuesday.

The pilot of the twin-engine Beech 60 touched down about 7:15 p.m. Monday at Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire.

"He was trying to land it without permission. He had not checked in or anything," said Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith.

The front nose gear collapsed on contact with the runway. The disabled airplane then slid off into the grass.

Emergency crews rushed to the spot where it finally came to a stop. They found about 100 pounds of marijuana packed into duffle bags but no sign of a pilot or any passengers, officials said.

Investigators also found a small computer and a cell phone aboard the airplane.

The twin-engine Beech had been owned by a man living in La Vernia near San Antonio but it was put up for auction after he died earlier this year, officials said.

The Beech 60 was purchased about three weeks ago by the Georgia man now being sought by police. He made a large cash down payment on the asking price, about $60,000, and arranged financing for the rest, officials said.

According to FAA records, the airplane has not been registered to the new owner.

On Tuesday, sheriff's officials did not identify the man, citing the ongoing investigation, but said he has an extensive criminal history including narcotics trafficking.

Smith said they have evidence the new owner was flying the airplane when it made Monday night's rough landing in Brookshire.


"He's got a pilot's license," Smith said.

The pilot may have landed at the corporate airport for a fuel stop before continuing on to Georgia with the lucrative load of marijuana.

Smith said the twin-engine airplane was seen at the airport over the past weekend.

"He (the pilot) obviously knows somebody in the area," Smith said.

On Tuesday, the airplane was secure in a hanger at their airport, officials said.

Smith said his office occasionally get reports of suspicious low-flying airplanes in their area that may be linked to the drug trade.

"But we certainly don't have this happen every day," he said.


http://www.chron.com
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HOUSTON —  A plane abandoned with about 100 pounds of marijuana onboard after skidding off the runway at a small private airstrip was recently sold at auction or in an estate sale following the death of its registered owner, authorities said Tuesday.

John Kremmer, chief sheriff's deputy in Waller County, said federal investigators determined the twin-engine plane abandoned Monday at Houston Executive Airport was purchased some months ago, but its new owner apparently didn't reregister it.

The previous owner was from La Vernia, just southeast of San Antonio.

"I believe with their assistance we'll be able to track down who purchased this thing at auction," Kremmer said.

The aircraft had not been reported stolen.

"All of this is part of a criminal investigation," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford told The Associated Press. "We are conducting an investigation into the accident as well as assisting law enforcement in determining where the aircraft came from."

Lunsford said when a plane is purchased, the bill of sale includes a new registration form that serves as a temporary registration. It's supposed to be filled out and mailed "before you even leave the ground."

"If not, you're illegally flying the airplane," he said.

Authorities on Tuesday were trying to determine who was flying the plane and whether anyone else was onboard.

Witnesses said they saw at least one man run off into the darkness after the plane made a hard landing at the rural airstrip about 35 miles west of Houston. Officers found the marijuana inside the abandoned aircraft.

Authorities said broken or missing nose gear caused the plane to slide onto the grass.


Lunsford said it appeared the pilot made a landing with the wind behind him.

"That's not good," he said. "What generally happens with a tailwind is you have trouble stopping and can run off the end of a runway, which is exactly what happened. I think the fact he made a downwind landing could indicate he's not the world's best pilot."

Officials removed some items from the plane and moved it Tuesday from the grassy area where it had been abandoned to a hangar.

Andrew Perry, the airport's executive director, said the airport operates without an air traffic controller and officials had no information the plane was expected to land there.

http://www.wftv.com
Authorities say a plane abandoned with about 100 pounds of marijuana onboard after skidding off the runway after landing at a small Texas airstrip was recently bought in an estate sale or at auction following the death of its registered owner.
John Kremmer, chief sheriff's deputy in Waller County, said Tuesday that federal investigators determined that the twin-engine plane abandoned Monday at Houston Executive Airport was purchased some months ago but apparently hadn't been reregistered.

Authorities are searching for the pilot and anyone else who was onboard.  Witnesses say they saw at least one man run off after the plane made a hard landing at the airstrip.   Authorities say broken or missing nose gear caused the plane to slide onto the grass.

BROOKSHIRE, TX (KTRK) -- Authorities are hunting for the pilot of a small plane carrying a large amount of marijuana that skidded off a runway at the Houston Executive Airport in west Houston.  The Waller County Sheriff's Office says at around 7:15pm Monday, a twin engine aircraft attempted to land at the airport when it experienced front landing gear malfunction and skidded down the runway on its nose. The plane came to a stop in a grassy area just off the runway.

The pilot abandoned the aircraft along with any others that possibly were aboard the plane. The pilot and any passengers were not located. We're told there is evidence of at least one person, possibly two, and that a cell phone and an iPad were left behind.

While searching the surrounding area, the Sheriff's Office says several large bundles of marijuana were discovered and traced back to the aircraft. We're told that between 75-125 lbs of marijuana has been found so far. The bundles of pot were located outside the aircraft, in a nearby field.

The Waller County Sheriff says the plane has been to the Houston Executive Airport before and fueled up. Investigators are checking surveillance video to try to identify the pilot.

The plane was sold at an auction about six months ago, but never re-registered, according to the sheriff.

Investigators are checking the interior of the plane for fingerprints and other evidence.

The Waller County Sheriff also said that the plane had been flying below the FAA guideline for radar.

It's not clear where the pot on the plane was headed to, but a 2009 Justice Department study found that marijuana and cocaine from Mexico often move through Houston on their way to other big cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia. And then that drug money travels back to Mexico through that same route.

http://abclocal.go.com

BROOKSHIRE, Texas — Investigators were on Tuesday trying to figure out how the pilot and possible passengers escaped after a twin-engine plane carrying a large amount of marijuana skidded off a runway at an airport west of Houston.

The small plane, thought to be a 1968 Beechcraft 60, slid into grass after its nose gear collapsed upon landing at the runway of Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire.

Witnesses saw the shadows of a person or people running from the aircraft, but it was unclear how many were aboard, John Kremmer, chief deputy of the Waller County Sheriff's Department, told The Associated Press.

Their escape has puzzled owners of the small airport, which is surrounded by a 10 feet high chain link fence topped with three layers of barbed wire.

Andrew Perry, executive director of the airport, said there were no signs of a hole in the perimeter fence.

“This is the first time anything like this has happened,” he told msnbc.com. “It would take some effort to get over the fence.”

When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, at around 7.15 p.m. local time, they found a large amount of marijuana inside the abandoned aircraft, Kremmer told the Associated Press.

"You could certainly classify it as a lot more than just personal use," Kremmer said, without confirming the amount.

The aircraft, which landed without any contact with the airport’s tower controllers, is registered to a residential address in La Vernia, east of San Antonio, Texas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration registry.

The FAA and Department of Homeland Security were assisting local authorities in the investigation, Kremmer added.

Perry added that the airport reopened within “a couple of hours” of the incident and there was no serious damage to the runway or any other facilities. He confirmed that plane had the registration N523AA.

Lynn Lunsford, spokesman for the FAA, told msnbc.com: “We would investigate why the nose gear collapsed as a matter of course, but as far as other authorities are concerned it was what was in the plane that they’re interested in most.”

BROOKSHIRE, Texas — Authorities hunted Monday night for the pilot and possible occupants of a twin-engine plane carrying a large amount of marijuana that skidded off a runway at an airport west of Houston.

John Kremmer, chief deputy of the Waller County Sheriff's Department, told The Associated Press the small plane had a broken or missing nose gear, which caused it to slide onto the grass along the runway at Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire.

When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene shortly after the incident around 7 p.m. local time, they found a large amount of marijuana inside the abandoned aircraft, Kremmer said.

"You could certainly classify it as a lot more than just personal use," Kremmer said.

Witnesses saw the shadows of a person or people running from the aircraft, but it was unclear how many were aboard, Kremmer said. The plane is registered to an owner in La Vernia, Texas, and it hadn't been reported stolen, he said.

"We have no idea who the pilot was or where it came from," Kremmer said.

Citing police, NBC News reported that "several large bundles" were found on the aircraft following the "unexpected hard landing."

Andrew Perry, the airport's executive director, said the airport operates without an air traffic controller, and officials had no information the plane was expected to land there.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Homeland Security were assisting local authorities in the investigation, Kremmer said. Kremmer said there had been no other similar incidents involving drugs reported at the small airport.

According to its website, Houston Executive Airport is a private development that aims to "cater to business and general aviation aircraft." Its first planes landed there in 2006, and it opened to the public in January 2007.


Waller County sheriff's deputies are investigating a disabled airplane now sitting off the runway at a private corporate airport in Brookshire.

Television stations KPRC and KHOU reported Tuesday that marijuana was found on board the plane.

The twin-engine airplane landed about 7 p.m. Monday at Houston Executive Airport, 1900 Cardiff Road. It slid off the runway after the nose gear collapsed.

"This airplane isn't from my airport. It flew in from somewhere else," said airport executive director Andrew Perry.

He didn't know whether the airplane had been stolen or if anyone was in custody but said Waller County sheriff's deputies were investigating.

"It's in their hands right now," Perry said.

Late Monday, a Waller County sheriff's employee said they had no comment.

The runway was shut down because of the airplane. Perry said they would probably pull it away on Tuesday.

HOUSTON - A plane filled with marijuana landed on the runway the Houston Executive Airport Monday night. Police surrounded the area near the Waller County airport as the small twin engine plane sat in the middle of a runway having sustained minor damage. Before the landing, the planes operators would not talk to the airport tower controllers. Once it arrived, the nose gear collapsed. No pilot was found on the plane. Police are checking the ID's of anyone who comes near the airport and officials are still searching for who was on the plane.

HOUSTON – A manhunt was underway Monday night after a small plane crashed at Houston’s Executive Airport. Officials say the landing gear collapsed as the plane touched down, but the pilot disappeared before emergency crews arrived. Police said they found marijuana inside the plane.

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