One Person Killed in Small Plane Crash

Gun Barrel City, TXA plane crashed into an empty field behind an elementary school at dinner time on Saturday, March 8, 2008, killing the pilot and injuring the sole passenger. This tragedy could have been much greater, given the number of people in a nearby field, enjoying their Saturday leisure activities.

News reports indicate the Cessna 172 single engine plane crashed after flying too low to the ground and clipping power lines.

The plane crash occurred in Gun Barrel City, about 60 miles south of Dallas. Both the pilot and passenger were ejected from the small plane. Pilot Christopher G. Anderson, 42, of Gun Barrel City was pronounced dead at the scene and passenger Mitchell Pasley, 48, also of Gun Barrel City, received serious facial and internal injuries and was taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler by helicopter. He was listed in fair condition.

The impact of the crash tore apart the Cessna. The cockpit came to rest upside down and pieces of the plane were strewn all about.

It took only two minutes for police to arrive, but the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. Apparently, there were several people in the area flying small handheld airplanes at the time, who called authorities after witnessing the crash. Some said the plane was turning east as it crashed, while others said the plane sounded like it was having engine trouble.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating.

But here's the problem. With most small aircraft crashes, unless something extraordinary exists in the circumstances, most are not investigated by a full NTSB team. One investigator might be assigned and may not even visit the crash site.

"Reasons unknown come up again and again," said aviation expert and Director, The Airsafe.com Foundation Dr. Todd Curtis. He also said that Part 91 rules which govern the level of qualification for pilots and equipment in these small planes don't require a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder.

That means, in some cases, we just won't get any answers.

"Unfortunately with small aircraft like the 172, they are absent more information," said Curtis, adding that these aircraft are not even designed for such recording devices. "It might be impossible to know exactly what happened."

Of course, the difference between the legal determination of fault and the NTSB's determination of fault can be two different things. It is the court which determines fault when a family or estate sues a manufacturer for damages.

These determinations, said Curtis, can be radically different even though both are working from a limited amount of information.