A plane crash thought to have happened earlier this month is said to be years old.
Authorities originally thought on December 8, a single-engine plane crashed, exploded and started a fire.
It happened at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 8700 feet above sea level.
The fire could be seen for miles and authorities are still working to figure out what caused the fire.
Now, the park says the tail section of a plane found in a wilderness area was from years ago.
They say crashes are not uncommon as the elevation, high winds and cloud cover cause problems for pilots.
Authorities are still working to figure out what caused the fire.
Original reports to the FAA indicted that the cause could have been a small plane crash, but search crews have not been able to substantiate this report.
Discovery of debris from a small airplane were later identified as remains from an older crash by park officials.
Rocky terrain and poor flying conditions have slowed investigations.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Interagency Fire Suppression Resources team contained the fire and National Park Service Special Investigative Services concluded site investigations over the weekend.
The ongoing investigation into the incident will continue.
The public is encouraged to report any information regarding this incident to the Investigative Services Protection Tip Line at (888) 653-0009.
Park closures due to onsite investigations have been removed.
All Pine Springs trails and the Pine Springs campground in the park have reopened for public use.
Park information, including park conditions, closures, restrictions, weather and program information are available on the park’s website www.nps.gov/gumo or by telephone at (915) 828-3251 ext. 2124.
The Pine Springs Visitor Center is open daily, except December 25, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Also visit the park on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/guadalupe.mountains.
Information from NPS
http://krwg.org
Date: 09-DEC-15
Time: 00:05:00Z
Regis#: UNKNOWN
Event Type: Accident
Highest Injury: Unknown
Damage: Destroyed
Flight Phase: UNKNOWN (UNK)
FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Lubbock FSDO-13
City: PINE SPRINGS
State: Texas
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES INTO GUADALUPE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, UNKNOWN MAKE/MODEL, UNKNOWN PERSONS ON BOARD, AIRCRAFT IS DESTROYED, WRECKAGE LOCATED NEAR PINE SPRINGS, TX
The trail head access road leading to the start of the Guadalupe Peak Trail was closed as federal, state and park crews attempted to locate wreckage.
CARLSBAD -- Rough terrain and winds atop the Guadalupe Peak on Friday continued to keep crews from investigating the site of a large fire from earlier this week.
The cause of the fire that consumed an estimated 30 acres of wildland erupted around 6 p.m. Dec. 8 at the peak in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is still unknown, the park's Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jackson said in a news release.
"The fire resulted in a significant burn and wildland fire that was visible for miles," Jackson said in the release. "By Wednesday morning the fire had mostly burned itself out. The origin of the fire is unknown."
Jackson said that the area affected by the fire, a rocky escarpment only reachable by foot, has posed a problem for personnel staging at the trailhead near the Pine Springs visitors center in Texas.
Fire crews were still monitoring hotspots Thursday and investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board continue to try and determine if the fire was the result of a supposed plane crash.
"Federal Aviation Administration, Texas Department of Public Safety personnel, and a Bureau of Land Management Type 3 fire team and other agencies are investigating the site," Jackson said.
Original reports to the FAA and the NTSB indicated that a small plane may have crashed into the area, but search crews came up empty handed Wednesday and Thursday.
The lack of debris was puzzling, as was the discovery of the tail of small airplane about a mile from the site Thursday.
An FAA representative said that the wreckage was spotted by helicopter but investigators were still trying to manage the terrain and high winds on the mountain to get a closer look.
That inspection will help investigators determine if the wreckage they spotted is part of an old crash or if it contributed to the fire.
"We don't know if this is the aircraft witnesses reported seeing in the area, nor do we know for sure how long the wreckage has been there," said FAA Public Affairs Manager Lynn Lunsford.
Because of the rough terrain, the wreckage was not inspected , said Federal Aviation Administration Public Affairs Manager Lynn Lunsford. There was no way to confirm if the tail section is part of an old crash or if it is connected with the fire that blazed on the mountainside Tuesday night.
Emergency response teams initially believed the fire, which started around 6 p.m. Tuesday, had been caused by a plane crash. However, officials with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that no wreckage could be found by search crews at the site of the fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to conclude their investigation into the incident, that left 30 acres of wooded escarpment at Guadalupe Peak scorched, in the next two days.
The damage done to the wildland by the fire was extensive, Guadalupe Mountains National Park Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jackson said.
Trooper Moises Vasquez with the Texas Department of Public Safety said reports from the high-altitude plane dispatched to take pictures of the fire indicated only hot spots, or areas that were on fire, but not debris from wreckage.
"All they (pilots) were able to really confirm was that there were several hotspots, probably fire," Vasquez said. "(Pilots) were taking images from high-altitude using a thermal camera and what they were able to observe that night from our end was images on the thermal camera that may have or may have not included debris."
Currently, the Texas DPS is not involved in the assessment of the site.
Jackson said they are not ruling anything out as far as what caused the fire.
"The fact is that if it was a forest fire event that it wouldn't have ignited that rapidly or in that large of an area. We just don't have any answers yet," Jackson said.
Finding those answers was made difficult by the poor flying conditions and rocky terrain on the mountain, a news release from the park said.
"There is currently no information available about the cause of ignition. Speculation remains that some kind of aircraft could have struck the mountain. The FAA is continuing the investigation," the release said.
Eric Ahasic, meteorologist with the Midland/Odessa National Weather Service station said no weather event such as lightning was recorded at the peak which could have sparked a fire.
"Conditions were favorable for fire up there," Ahasic said. "It's been pretty dry and you definitely have dry grasses and fuels to work with."
The spread of a wildland fire was one of the major concerns Tuesday night when the the fire was first reported, Jackson said.
A two-man emergency crew sheltered in place Tuesday night to help keep an eye on the flames that stretched a half-mile. The fire was contained by the next morning, allowing federal investigators to ascend the Guadalupe Peak trail and survey the fire site.
Investigators will attempt to reach the tail section wreckage before making determinations, but Jackson said it is possible the wreckage is the remnant of an old crash.
The Guadalupe Mountains have been the scene of many plane crashes, including a WWII B-24 bomber that crashed into the side of the peak on Dec. 31, 1943. Since 1991, there have been three fatal plane crashes in the Guadalupe Mountains, according to data from the FAA website.
Source: http://www.currentargus.com
A Life Flight helicopter prepares to take off and help survey the fire on Guadalupe Peak Tuesday night that was originally attributed to a plane crash.
“We have a site that has obviously been effected with fire,” said Guadalupe Mountain National Park Spokesperson Elizabeth Jackson by phone.
The Associated Press initially reported a small plane crashed into the mountainside, leaving a half-mile wide debris field. Jackson said Wednesday it is still not clear what happened.
“After investigating the site, we have not found anything at the site,” Jackson said. “There was an explosion and initial fire incident.”
Jackson said the FAA and NTSB are involved in the investigation. The FAA has an initial report on its preliminary crash data page about the accident.
According to the Carlsbad Current-Argus, search crews turned up empty handed for debris. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reporter on scene described the fire on the Guadalupe Peak as being consistent in appearance with that of a small plane crash.
The FAA told CBS 7 late Wednesday it is not a confirmed plane crash.
“We have some smoldering areas we are monitoring,” Jackson said, noting that the Pine Springs area and trailhead is temporarily closed.
GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS -- Federal investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire on Guadalupe Peak on Tuesday night that was originally believed to be caused by a crashed airplane.
Search crews on the mountain did not found any wreckage Wednesday to indicate an aircraft had crashed, said Lynn Lunsford, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Local authorities had indicated to the FAA early on that a plane had crashed and reports by pilots surveying the peak indicated the same.
Dispatchers received a report of an airplane that had crashed into the east side of Guadalupe Peak around 6 p.m. Tuesday, setting a half-mile stretch of wilderness on fire. Crews searching the area Wednesday morning were left puzzled after no debris was found.
Lunsford said it would be unusual for a small plane to crash and leave no debris.
"First step is to find the wreckage and ID the aircraft," said Terry Williams, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. "We have investigators on scene doing the on-scene phase of the investigation. Right now weather is a factor."
Williams said winds gusts of up to 20 miles per hour and the rough terrain are hindering the investigators and search crews in the area.
Guadalupe Peak, which rises 8,749 feet above sea level, is a steep, strenuous hike and typically takes three hours to ascend.
Elizabeth Jackson, public information officer with the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, said the fire has been contained. She confirmed that search crews have come up empty handed in the search for debris, survivors or victims of the supposed crash.
Jackson said accelerant such as gasoline could have been a factor in the size of the fire on the peak, but said there is no way to confirm yet whether the fire was natural, deliberately set or the result of an accident.
Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo have both said they had no maneuvers or operations in the area which could have caused the fire or a possible crash.
A spokesman with the North American Aerospace Defense Command's Northern Command Center in Colorado said they did not track any space debris re-entering in the area and had no reports of any aircraft or other object that could have caused the fire.
"We will know more tomorrow and the following days," Jackson said.
For now, all trails and campgrounds at the Pine Springs area of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park have been closed to the public until the investigation is complete.
The FAA and NTSB are being assisted by park rangers, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Bureau of Land Management emergency response crews.
Source: http://www.currentargus.com
Officials have confirmed that it was a small plane that crashed into a peak in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on Tuesday, starting a fire.
It is unknown what type of aircraft it was or how many people it was carrying, said a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
FAA investigators are on their way to the site, but the investigation is being handled by the National Transportation Safety Board.
As of this morning park personnel were searching for anything in the wreckage that would lead to more details. The fire has been contained.
All of the Pine Springs trails and campgrounds are closed to the public as park officials are helping with the crash. They are expected to remain closed until the investigation is completed.
ORIGINAL:
Officials believe a plane crashed in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on Tuesday night.
Fire could be seen at the top of the mountain and there was a debris field. Officials could not determine if it was caused by a plane or by something else.
A group of park personnel were able to hike to a point where they could monitor the flames to make sure they did not spread. Due to the night and the cold weather they had to suspend all other efforts at about 9 p.m., but would remain on the mountain overnight.
The Carlsbad Police Department, Eddy County Fire Services and Texas State Troopers were also on hand.
The first report of a fire and crash was called in before 6:30 p.m.
John Montoya with Guadalupe Mountains National Park said the Texas Department of Public Safety had deployed a Life Flight helicopter to attempt to get pictures of the elevated scene and potential debris field.
Montoya hoped that the pictures could determine whether or not a plane crash had taken place. The pilot of the helicopter inspecting the scene saw several fields of small debris, but still could not confirm if it was from a plane.
Jackson said that one of the park's main concerns with the fire is that it could potentially spread into a large wildfire.Elizabeth Jackson, a spokeswoman for the park, said they had been reviewing flight plans and had not been able to determine if there were any missing flights.
The fire could be seen from as a far as Whites City. Jackson said their goal was to have the fire extinguished by Wednesday morning.
She also added that they do not believe that any campers in the area were harmed.
Source: http://www.currentargus.com
The orange flame of a fire possibly caused by a downed plane (left) can be seen from the Pine Creek station. The small white light in the center of the photo is a two-man emergency response team hiking up the peak as emergency responders from Texas, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Eddy County watch from the road.
It happened just before 6 p.m, according to Texas DPS.
A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration said the agency was alerted about the downed aircraft after local fire crews flew over the site and spotted the fire.
It is a possible single-engine plane and it crashed near the ridge of Guadalupe Peak, the FAA spokesperson said.
The Carlsbad and Hudspeth fire departments are at the scene assisting with the fire.
The number of passenger in the plane is unknown at this time.
We will continue to update this article as more information becomes available.
Source: http://www.kfoxtv.com
Ghosts from an old plane crash. It's a strong possibility.
ReplyDelete