Presidio-Lely

On September 15, 2008 Cessna 421B, N7560Q, was substantially damaged after it collided with mountainous terrain approximately 28 miles northwest of Ojinaga, Mexico, near the border town of Presidio, Texas. The air transport rated pilot and the three passengers were fatally injured. The pilot contacted the Fort Worth Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS), Fort Worth, Texas, at 1016, approximately 15 minutes after he departed El Paso International Airport, El Paso, Texas, and filed a visual flight rules flight plan to Presidio, Texas. The pilot informed an AFSS specialist that he intended to enter Mexican airspace for the purpose of flying over the Luis Leon Dam, but had no intentions of landing in Mexico. The pilot did not request a weather briefing for the flight however, he was informed by the specialist that visual flight rules were not recommended due to mountain obscuration. Onboard the airplane were the pilot, the United States and Mexican Commissioners of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), and the Executive Director for the Rio Grande Council of Governments. The purpose of the flight was to assess Rio Grande flood conditions at Presidio-Ojinaga and to coordinate joint US-Mexican efforts with local officials to address flood control concerns in the area due to heavy inflows to the Rio Grande from reservoirs inside Mexico as a result of recent storms. The airplane wreckage was located on September 17, 2008, by the Marfa Sector of the US Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Division, on the west side of the Sierra Grande Mountains, at an approximate elevation of 6,500 feet mean sea level (msl). The airplane came to rest approximately 100-150 feet below the top of a ridgeline on a heading of 055 degrees along victor-airway V81.

During a cross country flight the pilot could not locate a refueling stop and landed 100 miles away. No refueling was accomplished and he decided to go on to his destination with the fuel remaining. Enroute his right engine coughed and he realized he was running out of fuel. After switching to crossfeed normal engine operation was restored. Even though he was only about 3 miles from his destination he decided to land on a 4,000 feet dirt agricultural airstrip which he saw directly below him. He forced the aircraft down and landed downwind at high speed about midway down the runway. The aircraft did not stop on the runway and overran into a dirt bank and a fence. The landing gear was knocked off and the aircraft became airborne for 700 more feet before impacting and tumbling. The aircraft came to rest inverted about 825 feet past the dirt bank. A fire developed in the left wing and consumed most of the area in the vicinity of the left fuel tank outboard of the left engine. The pilot stated that there were no malfunctions of the aircraft or systems.