Preliminary Report Released Detailing Tylerite’s March Plane Crash

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report detailing the events that led up to an East Texas pilot crashing his plane in Gordonville, Texas. According to KETK, FlightAware logs indicated a plane left from Tyler Pounds Regional Airport just before 12:30 p.m. Sunday, March 30, en route to the Gordonville Airport. The fixed wing single-engine plane crashed just after 4:00 p.m. near the Texas-Oklahoma border. A witness at the scene says the plane hit a house and then crashed in the yard. The collision caused the house to then catch fire. The pilot, Robert Gentry, 61, of Tyler; Karen Christian, 51; and two minors identified as Gentry’s daughter, Annie, 14, and Colin Howell, 17, were on board at the time of the crash. The full report released by the NTSB can be read below:

“This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

“On March 29, 2015, about 1600 central daylight time, a Beech 35, single-engine airplane, N80462, was substantially damaged after impacting terrain during initial climb at Cedar Mills Airport (3T0), Gordonville, Texas. The pilot and one passenger were seriously injured, and two passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual. Day visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight which was destined for Tyler Pounds Regional Airport (TYR), Tyler, Texas.

“The pilot reported that during his soft field takeoff from the turf runway the airplane had lifted off at an indicated airspeed of 80 mph. As the airplane neared the departure end of the runway the pilot noticed the airplane was not climbing as expected, the indicated airspeed seemed unreliable, and the controls felt mushy and near stall speed. The airplane then impacted trees and the roof of an unoccupied home. The engine separated and fell inside the home which resulted in a structure fire that substantially damaged the home. The airplane impacted terrain about 50 feet from the burning home and came to rest upright after impacting two nearly full propane storage tanks. There was no release of propane and there was no post-impact fire at the location of the main wreckage. Several persons at another nearby home witness the impact and responded immediately to assist the four occupants to exit the wreckage.”

In 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Gentry by including him in the FAA Airmen Certification Database. This means Gentry has met or exceeded the high educational, licensing and medical standards established by the FAA, according to Aviation Business Gazette. According to LinkedIn, Gentry works as a producer, musician and arranger. He has performed with and/or played on recordings featuring some of the top artists and songwriters in the industry such as LeAnn Rimes, The Dixie Chicks, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Stevie Nicks, Michael Bolton, BW Stevenson, Delbert McClinton, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Diane Warren, Kacey Musgraves and many others.