NTSB on Kerrville Crash: Twin Engine Plane Hit Ground at High Vertical Velocity, Slow Forward Speed

KERRVILLE, TX — The National Transportation Safety Board has started the investigation of Monday morning’s Beech Baron crash in Kerrville. A spokesman for the NTSB briefed reporters Tuesday morning and offered more details of the circumstances of the crash.

A 1999 Beech Baron departed West Houston Airport at 7:30 a.m. Monday morning headed for Kerrville. On final approach to Kerrville Municipal Airport’s runway 12, the plane crashed at 8:50 a.m.

The NTSB said the weather was 1,200 feet AGL overcast with 10 miles visibility. The winds were out of 170 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 17 knots. The plane mishap happened below the overcast cloud deck, the NTSB spokesman said.

The pilot, Jeffery Weiss, was experienced with over 5,000 hours. He held an Airline Transport Pilot license, the kind of certification airline pilots for major carriers have.

The NTSB said the plane was established on a GPS approach on the final segment when the mishap began. A major focus of concern, he said, was the airspeed and low altitude. It was “lower and slower” than expected for being at least 6 miles from the runway’s threshold.

The plane was caught on radar at 1800 above sea level, or MSL, which is about 200 feet above the height of the airport, which is 1616 feet MSL, a little more than 6 miles from the runway. The final approach fix for the approach the Baron was flying mandates aircraft cross the LAVIC intersection that is 5.3 nautical miles, or 6.1 statute miles, from the runway at 3,300' MSL. The Baron was recorded at 1800 feet MSL there.

The NTSB said three witnesses have been interviewed. One witness noted the aircraft was “spiraling” before it crashed. No one saw the aircraft make impact, the NTSB said, as it crashed on private land in a clearing.

The aircraft crashed “upright with a low forward speed and high vertical speed,” the NTSB said.

There was no fire. The NTSB said all crash circumstances are dynamic and the reasons why there was no fire can be attributed to a variety of reasons.

The preliminary crash report will be released in a week and the final report with probable cause declarations will be released in 12 to 18 months, the NTSB spokesman said.

The spokesman stressed several times the investigators will be looking at the engines. Representatives from Textron, the aircraft manufacturer, and Continental, the engine maker, are with the NTSB investigators. The engines have data that can be downloaded and reviewed, he said.

The five passengers on the plane traveled to Kerrville for a business meeting, the NTSB said. Onboard, the passengers were all from Houston, including the pilot, Jeffery Weiss, 65, who was a well-known member of the greater Houston area aviation community.

According to Weiss’s biography at the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society’s website, he was a volunteer Angel Flight pilot and a Colonel in the Commemorative Air Force an AOPA member, and was active in the Experimental Aircraft Association. He owned three general aviation planes. In addition to the Baron that crashed, he owned a single engine Beech Bonanza and an Aviat Husky A-1C tail dragger. Weiss was a major benefactor of the 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport.

Texas DPS identified the five passengers. They were Stuart Roben Kensinger, 55; Angela Webb Kensinger, 54; Mark Damien Scioneaux, 58; Scott Reagan Miller, 55; and Marc Tellepsen, 45.