Brownwood Crash Kills Dallas Doctors
Note: Thank GOD the Brownwood "Outsider & Immigrant Bashers" heard on KXYL were not controlling the airport runway lights by airplane MIC or by manual methods !
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2005 Last modified: Friday, January 28, 2005 4:48 PM CST
Pilot recalls crash that killed transplant doctors
By STEVE NASH Brownwood Bulletin
BROWNWOOD - Flying his single-engine Cessna early Saturday morning, Lake Hite of Mullin heard the heavily accented, but easily understood and proficient radio transmissions the pilot of an oncoming plane made to air traffic controllers.
Hite had just taken off from the Brownwood airport in the Cessna 210 and was headed northeast to Dallas. The weather was "beautiful," Hite said, with light winds.
Controllers radioed Hite that the other plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza that was flying from Dallas to Brownwood, was at his "twelve o'clock" position. Hite looked into the still-dark sky, searching for the other plane to make sure the two didn't collide.
"I saw his lights," Hite said. He radioed controllers that he had the plane in sight and flashed the Cessna's bright, white landing light to make it easier for the other pilot to see him. Hite watched as the Bonanza descended, then zipped by from the opposite direction, its altitude lower than that of Hite's Cessna.
Hite thought that the accent of the other pilot, Dr. Paulose Mathai of Dallas, was from India or a similar region. He heard no hint of trouble in Mathai's radio calls.
"He talked like he knew what he was doing," Hite said, noting that Mathai was on an instrument flight plan. "The last thing I heard him say to (controllers) was that he was going to make a visual approach" to the Brownwood airport. "There was no indication he was having any problem at all."
A few minutes later, the Bonanza crashed, killing Mathai, 58, and another doctor, Karl Brinker, 50, also of Dallas. Mathai was preparing to land on the northbound runway, but the Bonanza clipped a power line about a mile south of the airport at 6:50 a.m., authorities said.
It hit some trees, then crashed into a pasture and burned.
The two Dallas doctors were experts in organ transplants. The two practiced at Methodist Health System where Mathai was a lung specialist and Brinker a kidney specialist, according to the wire service.
Hite didn't learn about the crash until he returned to Brownwood. "I was really surprised," he said. "I can't tell you" what happened. "It's so hard to speculate. We may never know. It's a shame."
Hite said he would expect a plane to be at least 300 feet above the ground on a one-mile final approach. Hite and other local pilots said they simply can't imagine why the plane was low enough to hit a power line.
Mathai and Brinker took off earlier Saturday morning from Dallas' Executive Airport, and two shotguns were found in the wreckage, leaving authorities to speculate the two were planning to hunt.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, reached by phone Monday, said the investigation is ongoing but they offered no new details.
An NTSB official said the agency will likely release a preliminary report later this week that will contain the facts, but not the cause of the crash. An expanded report will be released in six to nine months, and a probably cause report will be released at some point, although there is no time line for that report, the official said.
Brownwood airport manager Mike Wilson said he couldn't remember ever having met Mathai and Brinker. He said even if the men weren't known around the Brownwood airport, the flying community feels the loss.
"Flying is like being in one big family," Wilson said. "It's like losing a couple of brothers. It affects most all the pilots here. Even though we didn't know them personally, it still hurts."
The last fatal plane crash near the Brownwood airport was in 1985, Wilson said.
Ironically, Hite had taken off from Brownwood a few minutes before the 1985 crash, and he heard the other pilot on the radio before the crash. Bad weather was a factor in that crash, Hite and Wilson said.
and flashed the Cessna's bright, white landing light to make it easier for the other pilot to see him. Hite watched as the Bonanza descended, then zipped by from the opposite direction, its altitude lower than that of Hite's Cessna.
Hite thought that the accent of the other pilot, Dr. Paulose Mathai of Dallas, was from India or a similar region. He heard no hint of trouble in Mathai's radio calls.
"He talked like he knew what he was doing," Hite said, noting that Mathai was on an instrument flight plan. "The last thing I heard him say to (controllers) was that he was going to make a visual approach" to the Brownwood airport. "There was no indication he was having any problem at all."
A few minutes later, the Bonanza crashed, killing Mathai, 58, and another doctor, Karl Brinker, 50, also of Dallas. Mathai was preparing to land on the northbound runway, but the Bonanza clipped a power line about a mile south of the airport at 6:50 a.m., authorities said.
It hit some trees, then crashed into a pasture and burned.
The two Dallas doctors were experts in organ transplants. The two practiced at Methodist Health System where Mathai was a lung specialist and Brinker a kidney specialist, according to the wire service.
Hite didn't learn about the crash until he returned to Brownwood. "I was really surprised," he said. "I can't tell you" what happened. "It's so hard to speculate. We may never know. It's a shame."
Hite said he would expect a plane to be at least 300 feet above the ground on a one-mile final approach. Hite and other local pilots said they simply can't imagine why the plane was low enough to hit a power line.
Mathai and Brinker took off earlier Saturday morning from Dallas' Executive Airport, and two shotguns were found in the wreckage, leaving authorities to speculate the two were planning to hunt.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, reached by phone Monday, said the investigation is ongoing but they offered no new details.
An NTSB official said the agency will likely release a preliminary report later this week that will contain the facts, but not the cause of the crash. An expanded report will be released in six to nine months, and a probably cause report will be released at some point, although there is no time line for that report, the official said.
Brownwood airport manager Mike Wilson said he couldn't remember ever having met Mathai and Brinker. He said even if the men weren't known around the Brownwood airport, the flying community feels the loss.
"Flying is like being in one big family," Wilson said. "It's like losing a couple of brothers. It affects most all the pilots here. Even though we didn't know them personally, it still hurts."
The last fatal plane crash near the Brownwood airport was in 1985, Wilson said.
Ironically, Hite had taken off from Brownwood a few minutes before the 1985 crash, and he heard the other pilot on the radio before the crash. Bad weather was a factor in that crash, Hite and Wilson said.
Steve Nash works for the Brownwood Bulletin, a sister paper of the Daily Light also owned by American Consolidated Media.
Was lighting a key factor in this crash ? We're the runway lights "Mic'd" up or down upon his approach ?
Was he attempting to land on the Old May road ? Lighting, was it a factor in the approach and the ultimate crash ?
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