NTSB releases preliminary report on fatal plane crash near Hueco Tanks

The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the plane crash that killed a borderland pilot last week — and weather appears to be a factor in the crash.

Waldo Emerson Cavender was conducting aerial pipeline patrols for Brentco aerial patrols out of Ohio.

He died when the Cessna single-engine plane he was flying crashed into rugged terrain in Hudspeth County near Hueco Tanks.

According to the NTSB’s preliminary report, Cavender departed from Snyder, Texas to Hobbs and was destined for El Paso.

He called the company dispatcher and asked for weather information out of southeast New Mexico and the El Paso areas.

The dispatcher informed Cavender that there was light rain.

Cavender was quoted as replying: “If he was going to make it, he had better get into the air.”

Radar contact was lost about 30 miles northeast of El Paso.

A search was called when his company determined that he had not arrived in El Paso.

Cavender served as a volunteer at the war eagles air museum for 25 years.