Pilot killed when his plane crashes into Texas TV tower

LUBBOCK, Texas – One man is dead after the small aircraft he was flying crashed into a TV tower as he approached an airport in West Texas.

Emergency workers searched late Wednesday near the KCBD-TV tower in Lubbock for any other victims. Lubbock police said Thursday that the pilot was alone.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports the single-engine Piper PA-46 crashed into the 814-foot tower while approaching Preston Smith International Airport on a flight from Carlsbad, New Mexico. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the aircraft dropped off radar around 7:30 p.m.

The crash knocked the station off the air and cut power to the surrounding neighborhood. KCBD personnel were told to evacuate their building but the station was back on the air Thursday, broadcasting from a studio provided by the Lubbock school district.

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 7:47 AM with the headline "Pilot killed when his plane crashes into Texas TV tower."