A Piper PA-28 Cherokee 140-engine horsepower plane crashed in a field near the West Houston Airport south of the Barker Dam around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. Both the pilot and the passenger were killed in the private plane crash. The pilot has been identified as Solomon Babalola, 23, of Katy, and the passenger as Apesin Oluwafunmilayo, 20, of Houston. Many unanswered questions remain about how this crash occurred.
Investigation Into the Crash
The National Transportation and Safety Board was on-site Friday morning to view the wreckage. The Piper PA-28 Cherokee in use was a two-seater light aircraft designed for flight training, air taxi, and personal use.
It has been reported that Solomon Babalola was a student pilot and had not yet obtained his private pilot’s license. Pursuant to 14 CFR 61.87(n) A student pilot may not operate an aircraft in solo flight unless that student pilot has received an endorsement in the student’s logbook for the specific make and model aircraft to be flown by an authorized instructor who gave the training within the 90 days preceding the date of the flight. It is unclear whether such an endorsement was obtained.
Even assuming he had the required endorsement, 14 CFR 61.89 prohibits a student pilot from carrying passengers other than a flight instructor. His passenger does not appear to be an authorized flight instructor. Thus, the purpose of the flight remains unclear at this time.
Transponder Not Operable
It has already been determined that the private plane’s transponder was not working properly, so the staff at West Houston Airport was not aware the plane was missing until a friend of one of the occupants came to the airport the next day looking for the two. Airplane transponders are critical for the safe operation of a plane. The transponder is the device that allows a plane to be tracked and identified by the airport and other planes. Without it working, the airport has no way of knowing where they are at any given time. They were essentially flying invisible and placing themselves and other airplanes in serious danger.
Unanswered Questions
There are many questions yet unanswered from this private plane crash in West Houston, including:
- How did a flight student gain access to Lycoming Engines’ plane?
- Did anyone check the student pilot’s license?
- Who allowed a passenger to fly without a proper pilot?
- Why wasn’t the transponder working?
- Who cleared a plane with an inoperable transponder for flight?
Conclusion
There are often several parties who may bear responsibility when a small plane crashes as in this case. The potentially liable parties may include the plane owner, the maintenance crew, the pilot, and sometimes the airport itself. At the moment, there is too little information available to make any determinations as to how or why these individuals and this plane were even allowed to take off on this fateful voyage. Hopefully, the NTSB investigation will uncover more information from the plane’s data recorder and the wreckage to answer some of the above questions. Talk to a Houston aviation accident attorney to determine your rights if you or your loved ones are involved in a private plane crash.