The Galveston County Daily News

ALGOA — An ultralight airplane crash near the Brazoria County line Monday almost cut electricity off everywhere on Galveston Island east of 61st Street.

William Gamblin, 75, had taken off from an Algoa airfield and was bound for Hitchcock when his craft apparently ran out of fuel over state Highway 6, according to Department of Public Safety reports. Gamblin apparently tried to land the small aircraft on the highway about 11:20 a.m. Monday. The plane came down in the center of the road but flipped and landed upside-down on the westbound shoulder.

Daisy Godbey was working in the Creative Kids day care in Alvin, which she owns, preparing to reopen today, when she heard the crash.

“All of the sudden, bam, a big, old noise,” she said. “It sounded like what it was; a bunch of metal hitting concrete. And then, the lights went out.”

As it descended, the powerless plane clipped a power line, leaving more than a dozen buildings without electricity for about three hours.

It could have been much worse. Losing that line almost forced CenterPoint Energy to cut power to most of the island, as electrical load shifted and threatened to overwhelm the grid, said David Murphy, Galveston service area manager.

CenterPoint Energy was able to avoid cutting off power to ten of thousands of island residents when University of Texas Medical Branch officials agreed to reduce electricity demand, Murphy said.

The university is one of the island’s largest electricity users and has a backup power system that enables it to reduce what it takes from the grid.

CenterPoint also shifted some load, he said.

The decision to kill power to customers who either only recently had it restored after Hurricane Rita or were celebrating their luck for not losing it, wasn’t going to be easy, Murphy said. The company warned the city and its large customers.

“We didn’t want to holler ‘wolf,’” Murphy said. “But the main thing was we didn’t want to surprise anyone.”

Cooperation by the university saved the day, Murphy said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Safety closed the highway for about a quarter-mile while trooper Clifford Douglas investigated the crash and CenterPoint Energy crews worked to restore power to the nearby area.

An ambulance took Gamblin to a UTMB hospital where he was receiving treatment Monday evening. Officials at the scene said his injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

The Federal Aviation Administration took over the investigation Monday afternoon. No charges had been filed as of Monday.