Composite sketch of suspect.
Man who stole, crashed plane still sought
March 2, 2004, 1:25AM
By ERIC HANSON
A search continued Monday for a man who stole and crashed a single-engine plane in Brazoria County.
The incident marked the second time this year that an airplane has been stolen in the United States, according to the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute, a private group working to eliminate aviation-related crime.
"We had six thefts all of last year," said Bob Collins, the group's president.
The Cessna 172 stolen Sunday morning was reduced to a pile of crumpled metal in a muddy field after the man who stole it flew into a set of power lines just south of the airport, one mile north of FM 2004 near Lake Jackson.
"This guy used up all the luck he is ever going to have," Louis Jones, county aviation director, said Monday. "To hit the power lines and walk away unhurt is unbelievable."
Sheriff's investigator Chris Kincheloe said detectives are pursuing numerous leads, including information provided by three motorists who saw the airplane hit the power lines.
A few minutes later, the same witnesses said they saw a man walking toward Texas 288 from the crash area.
Kincheloe said the man told the witnesses that two other men had crashed the airplane and walked back to the airport.
"It is real farfetched," Kincheloe said of the man's story.
Kincheloe said the man was described as being very thin, between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10. He had a mustache, and dark hair and dark eyes.
"We just have to find the right person and line him for the witnesses," Kincheloe said.
Investigators said they do not know why the man stole the aircraft from the Brazoria County Airport, but they but ruled out terrorism as a motive.
Collins said that in the 1980s, hundreds of airplanes were stolen each year, usually by drug smugglers, but that the numbers have dropped drastically in recent years.
"There is enough money being made that they don't have to take a chance by stealing an airplane," he said Monday.
Collins said the other theft this year occurred in Florida, where a small airplane was taken and then stripped for parts.
He said the motive for most thefts is either joy riding or selling parts.
The airplane stolen from Brazoria County was taken from a locked hangar about 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
Police said that a few minutes later, the aircraft struck the power lines 100 feet above the ground and then fell into a field.
Alicia Dixon, spokeswoman for Reliant Energy, said 11,000 customers lost power. It was restored about 90 minutes later.
Locks to 14 other hangars were broken, but only the Cessna 172 was stolen, Jones said.
The airplane's owner told airport officials he had recently returned from a trip and the key was still in the aircraft. Jones said that only enough gasoline for about one hour of flying remained in the airplane's tanks. The owner could not be reached by the Chronicle for comment.
An FBI evidence team and sheriff's deputies examined the wreckage for clues after it was brought back to a hangar.
Investigators also have been examining surveillance video taken by security cameras at the airport.
"We have seen it, but it's not very good," Kincheloe added.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Brazoria County Sheriff's Department at 979-864-2216.