Investigators say a pilot has been killed when his small plane used to inspect pipelines clipped an East Texas cellphone tower guy wire and crashed into some trees.
Rusk County officials say the Cessna 177 crashed and burned Tuesday afternoon near Price, about 120 miles southeast of Dallas. The victim's name wasn't immediately released.
Emergency management spokesman Patrick Dooley said Wednesday that the pilot was alone in the single-engine aircraft when the plane hit the wire and part of a wing sheared off. The plane crashed in a residential area about 100 yards from the tower.
A Federal Aviation Administration statement says the aircraft was used for pipeline patrol. Dooley says officials believe the pilot planned to refuel at Rusk County Airport when the accident happened on a clear afternoon.
