NTSB Identification: CEN12LA169
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, February 23, 2012 in Cypress, TX
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/13/2013
Aircraft: BEECH 58, registration: N99EZ
Injuries: 1 Serious,1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot was performing an instrument approach to his destination airport. After the airplane descended beneath the clouds on the approach, both engines experienced a total loss of power. Examination of the airplane revealed that there was no usable fuel aboard.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's improper preflight planning/preparation and in-flight fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion during the approach to the destination airport.
On February 23, 2012, about 1859 central standard time, a Beech 58, N99EZ, experienced a total loss of engine power on both engines during a visual approach to West Houston Airport (IWS), Houston, Texas. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing about 7 miles northwest of IWS and near Cypress, Texas. The commercial pilot sustained serious injuries and the passenger was uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wing. The airplane was registered to United Aviation Associates LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Night marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the flight that originated from Vicksburg Municipal Airport, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was destined for IWS.
A National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report, Form 6120.1, was not received from the pilot.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the pilot requested and received a local instrument flight rules clearance to IWS. The pilot received radar vectors for a global positioning system runway 15 approach. The pilot then requested and was issued a visual approach clearance. The cloud height became lower, and the pilot began to descend. Air traffic control warned the pilot that they received a low altitude alert, which was then followed by the right engine running rough. The pilot turned on the fuel pump and the engine began to run smooth. The pilot thought that the engine driven fuel pump had failed. Both engines then experienced a total loss of engine power and the pilot attempted a forced landing to a baseball field. There were children on the field and the pilot attempted to land on a road next to the field. The airplane touched down on a school playground and the landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid for about 100 feet and struck a telephone pole tearing the wing near the engine cowling. There was no evidence of usable fuel present in the airplane fuel tanks.
The pilot was trying to land at West Houston Airport about 7 p.m. when he had mechanical problems with his Beechcraft Baron 58, officials said.
At first, the pilot attempted to land in a baseball field near Fry Road and Cypress North Houston.
"As he got closer to the field, he noticed there were kids there," said trooper John Sampa, of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
He was finally forced to set down in a small patch of land behind Warner Elementary School, 10400 Warner Smith Boulevard.
The force of the impact sheared off the right wing of the twin-engine airplane, then struck a wooden fence separating the school from a neighborhood. Flying debris caused minor damage to a house, Sampa said.
"I give great credit to the pilot for landing the way he did," Sampa said.
The pilot was taken to Memorial Hermann Katy for evaluation. He did not appear to have any visible injuries and was able to walk away from the plane, officials said.
Sampa didn't know if the pilot was able to trigger a mayday alert before landing.
The pilot, who is in his 30s, and the plane are from Vicksburg, Miss. Sampa said the pilot was coming to the Houston airport to pick up a passenger.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
The pilot has not been identified.
HOUSTON – A small plane made a crash landing Thursday in the playground of an elementary school in northwest Harris County, Harris County Precinct 5 deputies said.
It happened around 7 p.m. at Warner Elementary School in the 10700 block of Fry Road.
The plane did not hit any buildings, but houses may have gotten debris, officials said.
The pilot was taken to the hospital for cautionary reasons.
No injuries were reported.
A twin-engine plane has crash landed on the playground of Warner Elementary School in the Cypress area. The plane went into fences of some houses then crash landed on the school's property. The pilot was transported to an area hospital by ambulance and was alive, and but his condition wasn't immediately known. A Cy-Fair ISD spokesperson says the plane missed the school and no damage was done to the building. The campus is expected to resume classes Friday.
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