Abilene – Harlingen

On February 20, 2020 at 06:00 AM, Abilene – Harlingen experienced a crash involving Beechcraft 200 Super King Air, operated by TLC Air, with the event recorded near Coleman Texas.

The flight was categorized as private and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

On February 20, 2020, about 0600 central standard time, a Beechcraft B200 airplane, N860J, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Lake Coleman, Texas. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A review of air traffic control communications revealed that the airplane was cleared for takeoff from Runway 35L at Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), Texas. Shortly after, the pilot was instructed to climb to 12,000 ft mean sea level (msl), then cleared to climb to 23,000 ft msl. The pilot reported to the controller that they encountered freezing drizzle and light rime icing during the climb from 6500 ft to 8,000 ft msl. As the airplane climbed through 11,600 ft msl, the pilot reported that they were having an issue with faulty deicing equipment and needed to return to the airport. The controller instructed the pilot to descend to 11,000 ft msl and cleared them direct to the ABI. The controller then issued a descent to 7,000 ft and asked if there was an emergency. The pilot stated that they “blew a breaker” when they encountered icing conditions, and that it was not resetting. The controller then instructed the pilot to descend to 5,000 ft and to expect the ILS Runway 35R approach. The controller gave the pilot a heading of 310°. Shortly afterwards the controller asked the pilot if they were turning to the assigned heading; the pilot responded that they were having issues with faulty instruments. When the controller asked the aircraft to report their altitude, the pilot reported that they were at 4,700 ft. The controller then instructed the pilot to maintain 5,000 ft. The pilot responded he was “pulling up”. There was no further communication with the pilot. Review of the airplane’s radar track showed the airplane’s departure from ABI and the subsequent turn and southeast track towards its destination. The track appeared as a straight line before a right turn was observed. The turn radius decreased before the flight track ended.

Aircraft reference details include registration N860J, MSN BB-1067, year of manufacture 1982.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 31.7767°, -99.4461°.