Cessna 172 Owned by Aerial Photography Company Crashes on 25,000-Acre Ranch Near Rotan

ROTAN, TX — A Cessna 172 aircraft crashed 10 miles northwest of Rotan in Fisher County Saturday afternoon and both pilot and his only passenger were killed.

According to the Texas DPS, Dallas Lee McMahon 33, of Austin, was the photographer on a C-172N that hit a power line before crashing and then plunging into a canyon below.

Fisher County Sheriff Alan Arnwine told KTXS that the plane came to a rest in rough terrain. It took rescuers two hours in ATV off-road vehicles to reach the crash site. KTXS reported the crash was on the Hawks Double Mountain Ranch in northwest Fisher County. The ranch is a hunting resort. Unknown is if the pilot and passenger were headed to or from the ranch.

DPS reported the plane hit the power lines and then crashed into the bottom of a canyon.

Pilot McMahon’s pilot was Jay Robert Leibson, 38, of Burnet.

Once first responders arrived at the scene, both occupants were pronounced dead and the bodies taken to a funeral home in Rotan.

The crash happened Saturday afternoon, June 15, 2018, at 4:24 p.m., according to DPS. The weather was clear with clouds, DPS reported.

The Cessna 172 is a single-engine, four-seat (including the pilot) aircraft with a “high” wing. A high wing means the wing is mounted above the pilots’ heads. High wing aircraft allow for better visibility below, which makes these kinds of planes great platforms for aerial photography. The 172 that crashed was registered to Aero Photo out of Saint Petersburg, Florida since 2006. The plane was first registered as airworthy in 1977. Aero Photo initially called KTXS asking about any reported crashes, looking for their airplane and pilots.

The last two flights tracked by FlightAware.com of this 172 were a 3:45 hour flight from Texas Gulf Coast Regional near Houston to the Giddings-Lee County Airport on June 8; and on June 7, a 3-hour, 56-minute flight from Burnet Muni to Houston Executive Airport.

Not all flights are tracked on FlightAware, particularly flights flown under Visual Flight Rules, or VFR, where filing a flight plan is optional.