Dense Fog — Dickens, Texas

2011-03-27 · Dickens, Texas

Wider weather episode

A vintage 1946 Stinson 108 airplane took off from a private airfield near County Road 142 and County Road 129 in Dickens County around 04:30 CST on the 27th. The plane, with a pilot and two passengers, encountered low visibility in dense fog shortly after take-off, and attempted to return to the airfield. At about 05:00 CST, the aircraft became entangled in barbed-wire along a fence line, and nose-dived into the ground. The plane burst into flames upon impact, and all on board were killed.

The above details of the incident were provided as results of a preliminary investigation per the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Federal Aviation Administration and were widely reported in local media. Fog and low clouds were widespread over the South Plains of west Texas in the wake of a cold frontal passage during the morning hours of the 27th, with officially observed visibilities as low as three-quarters of a mile at Lubbock's Preston Smith International Airport, about 65 miles west of the incident.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 280888. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.