FTW02CA207

The pilot had never been to the airport he intended to land at and so he requested and received directions from air traffic control. The pilot mistook a road for the runway and landed the airplane on the road. During the landing roll, the airplane hit a rise in the road, veered left and struck 12 fence posts, damaging both wings and the right horizontal stabilizer, before coming to rest upright beside the road.

On July 13, 2002, at 1040 central daylight time, a Gulfstream American AA-5B single-engine airplane, N358RW, was substantially damaged when it collided with fence posts during landing on a road near Spicewood, Texas. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed and activated for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The cross-country flight originated from Graham, Texas, at 0900, and was destined for the Spicewood Airport (88R).

While en route, the pilot contacted Austin Approach Control and stated that "this was [his] first time into Spicewood and would appreciate advisories." The controller advised the pilot that Spicewood was at 165 degrees (this was also the airplane's heading) and 12 miles, and then advised the pilot when the airplane was 8 miles from Spicewood. The pilot confirmed this with his global positioning system (GPS). The pilot notified Austin approach that he "thought [he] had Spicewood in sight and was beginning a descent." The pilot changed radio frequencies to Spicewood's common traffic advisory frequency, but did not reconfirm his location with his GPS since he thought he had Spicewood in sight. "What [he] actually was seeing was County Road 410, which runs north and south adjacent to Lakeside Beach grass landing strip." An 8 foot tall exotic animal fence was being constructed between the road and the grass strip, and "thinking that the road was Spicewood, [he] landed." During the landing roll, at a speed of 50 knots, the airplane "hit a small rise in the road, which caused [the airplane] to swerve left." The airplane's left wing tip struck a fence post and the airplane continued to veer left. The airplane struck 12 posts before coming to rest upright on the grass strip. Both wings and the right horizontal stabilizer sustained structural damage.