2 killed in Montgomery County plane crash

01:49 PM CST on Thursday, December 9, 2004

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

Click to watch Jeremy Desel's report

MONTGOMERY COUNTY -- Two people are dead after a small plane crashed near Lake Conroe, about 55 miles north of Houston.

AIR 11

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

"A witness saw the wing come off the airplane and then saw it spiraling down to the ground," said Kenneth Hiebert with the Texas DPS. "They said it was flying east, over this area at about a thousand feet."

Air 11 showed the wreckage on Stubblefied Road one mile south of FM 1375, just west of Lake Conroe in north Montgomery County.

The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash.

"We're gonna go through the wreckage more and go from there," said FAA investigator Tom Stunda. "The wing was found a quarter of a mile from the location so hopefully we can retrieve that tomorrow."

One of the victims has been identified as 51-year-old Richard Gillenwaters of Conroe, the pilot. The passenger was Tietro Migliori of Venezuela

Gillenwaters was retired from the Air Force and was part of the Texas Air Aces. The group operates an aviation safety program out of Hooks Airport.

This is the second double-fatal accident for the Texas Air Aces in the just over a year. The latest crash is hauntingly similar to a crash last November involving the same type of plane.

Texas Air Aces founder Don Wiley was killed in that crash. The final report on the cause of that crash has yet to be released.

11 News has learned the type of plane involved in both crashes, a Beech T-34 trainer, has a history of problems.

KHOU

Richard Gillenwaters, the pilot, was killed in the crash.

During the investigation into the first crash, questions were raised about whether the plane had mandatory modifications to fix problems with cracking on the wings.

The FAA has warned aviators several times about the wing problems on the T-34 and ordered the repairs.

The NTSB will arrive Wednesday to begin their own investigation into the cause of the crash.