Pilot killed in crash at landfill

(photo top) The aircraft came to rest on its top, with most of the damage to the right wing. Cause of the crash is still under investigation by the FAA. (photo bottom) The word experimental is written on the door, meaning this was a home-built type aircraft. A Northeast Texas man was found dead yesterday after he crashed his airplane at the Pine Hill Landfill, just north of Kilgore.

Trooper Roy Tower, Texas Department of Public Safety, said the home-built, single-person aircraft was found near the rear of the Allied Waste site on 4S Industrial Boulevard (formerly Landfill Road), off of State Highway 31, when a landfill superintendent was making his rounds.

The pilot, Ronald Vickers, 63, of Arlington, was flying a plane last registered to William McDuffie of Oak Ridge, La. Vickers is not listed as having a current pilot's license.

According to Tower, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. Tower said neither agency had a transportation log for the aircraft and so far do not know where the plane took off or where it was headed.

No crash was reported until the wreckage was found, so it is unknown what time the plane went down. Tower said landfill workers remember seeing the plane flying low and that the plane was last seen in the air somewhere between 1 and 1:30 p.m. The wreckage was spotted at 3:45 p.m.

Vickers was pronounced dead by B.H. Jameson, Gregg County Pct. 1 justice of the peace.

According to Tower, the blue and gold plane was an "experimental" — or homebuilt — aircraft, believed to have been manufactured in 1960.

The plane is registered with the FAA as a Baby Ace- D, with a Continental 85 horsepower engine, manufactured by Probst. A homebuilt plane registered with the FAA carries the surname of its builder.

The cause of the crash was unknown last night. The plane was, however, found directly beneath power lines. Scott McCloud, AEP/SWEPCO spokesman, said the plane clipped a 138,000-volt static line, which does not carry any customers. According to McCloud, if the plane had hit a service line, thousands in Kilgore and Longview would have been without power last night.

Torn and crumpled right wing on the 1960 Baby Ace. Wing is made of wood and aircraft fabric. Tower said there were no signs of fire and it is not believed the pilot ran out of fuel because some fuel was spilled in the crash.