A small plane crashed in a West Texas neighbourhood on Tuesday, killing the pilot and a passenger and igniting a big fire on the ground that injured a lady, authorities said.
Witnesses reported the jet struggled to gain altitude after taking off from an Odessa airfield, then collided with a power line before landing in an alley around 7 a.m., according to officials. Both people on the plane died.
“It’s obvious the pilot attempted to avoid the houses,” Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said.
He stated the enormous fire on the ground resulted from a handful of explosions following the jet crash.
In addition to a handful of mobile homes, Odessa Fire Rescue Chief Jason Cotton reported that other outbuildings in backyards caught fire.
The injured woman had to be rescued from one of the blazing mobile homes and sent to the hospital, he said. There was also damage to automobiles, fences, and a restaurant in the 114,000-person city.
The Texas Department of Public Safety named the pilot Joseph Vincent Summa, 48, of Bellaire, a Houston suburb, and the passenger Joleen Cavaretta Weatherly, 49, of Orange, east of Houston.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the plane as a Cessna Citation business jet.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
