Cessna R172E N42FG

Summary

On 26 October 2008 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna R172E registered N42FG, operated by Steven M. Toft, was involved in an accident near Palo Pinto, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 October 2008 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Palo Pinto, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.7200, -98.2244

Aircraft

Cessna R172E

Registration

N42FG

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Steven M. Toft

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Fort Worth

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA037

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's intentional low-level flight and failure to maintain a visual lookout.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, his "intention was just to exercise the engine and aircraft for an hour." He flew a circular route and was returning when the airplane collided with two power lines that stretched across the river between two cliffs. He said, "[t]he terrain [was] hilly but desolate and I decided to get a closer look at the animals that were in the Brazos River bottom. Two power lines ran from the top of one cliff to another and were struck. They were on 40 foot power poles and 112 feet above the riverbed. They had a 900 foot span and no markers."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.