- Date
- February 29, 2004, 06:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Angleton, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N79502Cessna 172K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report June 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Service District Office
- FAA report
- 20040229002959A
- Case key
- 58820
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The unqualified person's failure to maintain clearance with the power lines. A contributing factor was the night light conditions.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane had been stolen and was being operated by a non-certificated person when it impacted power lines and terrain during night light conditions.
Factual narrative
On February 29, 2004, approximately 0630 central standard time, a Cessna 172K single-engine airplane, N79502, was destroyed when it impacted power lines and the terrain while maneuvering near the Brazoria County Airport, Angleton, Texas. The airplane was registered to a private individual. The airplane had been stolen and was being operated by a non-certificated person, who was the sole occupant and was not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the unauthorized flight.
According to an FAA inspector, 16 hangars were broken-into sometime in the evening hours of February 28, 2004, and the morning hours of February 29, 2004. The wreckage of the stolen aircraft was located approximately 3 miles south of the Brazoria County Airport, after the airplane appeared to have impacted power lines and the terrain. The accident airplane contained miscellaneous equipment taken from the hangars, and several beer cans.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N79502
- Reported as
- Cessna 172K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17258135
- Airframe hours
- 2,754
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 2003 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- Angleton, TX
- Destination
- LBX · Angleton, TX
- Airport
- LBX · Brazoria County Airport
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Flight hours
- 0 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 150° at 18 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- LBX, 3 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.