UPDATED: New details have emerged in the investigation into the crash of a Cessna Citation that overran the runway in Lufkin, Texas.
The incoming speaker of the Texas State Legislature, Dade Phelan, was a passenger aboard the Cessna Citation II/SP model 551 that crashed last week. The crash was caught on video by a motorist who had stopped along a bordering roadway to watch the jet land and just happened to video its crash. It’s really dramatic, and when you see it, you’ll be surprised that no one was more seriously hurt.
The plane was landing at Lufkin, Texas, Angelina County Airport, near Nagadoches, when the pilot said there was a problem with anti-skid function on the brakes. When he recycled it, he told the reporter, the brakes were gone altogether. Which is exactly what it looks like in the video.
The pilot steered straight ahead, and the plane exited the runway, first hitting a breakaway and then getting snagged by a hog fence, which the airport manager told a reporter “kind of caught the plane in midair” and kept it “from running a long way.” Hog fence is very strong welded wire fencing designed to keep feral hogs out of farm fields, or wherever else feral hogs might want to go. This time, it stopped a Citation in its tracks.
The pilot suffered minor injuries. Two passengers were uninjured.
The airport manager told a local paper that the NTSB had been out to the scene to investigate and has spoken with the pilot of the plane. It also oversaw the recovery of the plane from where it came to rest, paying special attention to the wheels and brakes. Investigators were also looking at tire marks left by the jet on its landing, hoping that an analysis of those tire marks could help it determine the cause.
