10 killed in small plane crash in Texas
Aircraft malfunctions right after takeoff, hits hangar
DALLAS — Ten people were killed when a small airplane crashed into a hangar as it was taking off from a Dallas-area airport Sunday morning, a spokeswoman for the town of Addison, Texas, said.
Mary Rosenbleeth said no one aboard the twin-engine plane survived the crash at the Addison Municipal Airport, about 20 miles north of Dallas.
The Beechcraft BE-350 King Air hit an unoccupied hangar soon after 9 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said that the blaze destroyed the plane. Video showed black smoke billowing from the building and a gaping hole in the hangar.
Officials have not released the identities of the people who died. Rosenbleeth said the Dallas County medical examiner’s office confirmed the fatalities to the town and that authorities are still working to notify the families of the victims.
The plane was headed for St. Petersburg, Florida, said Edward Martelle, a spokesman for the town of Addison. Martelle said the plane was taking off at the south end of the airport and had just lifted off the runway when it veered left, dropped its left wing and went into the hangar.
David Snell, who was getting ready to fly from Addison with a friend Sunday morning, told KDFW TV that the plane didn’t sound right on takeoff.
“It looked like it was clearly reduced power. I didn’t know if it was on purpose or not, but then, when the plane started to veer to the left, and you could tell it couldn’t climb. My friend and I looked at each other and we’re like, ‘Oh my God. They’re going to crash,’” Snell said.
Peter Drake says he saw the plane crash into the hangar.
“He got onto the runway, went down the runway, started taking off. He got to about 200 feet, and I saw him starting to lose power and his altitude, and then I see him just roll over and came straight down right into the building,” Drake said.
Dallas County was helping the city of Addison set up a family assistance center for people affected by the crash, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. The center is staffed with chaplains, counselors and other mental health and support workers, he said.
“It’s a horrible, sad, shocking thing to lose a family member like this,” Jenkins told The Associated Press. “So we’re doing whatever we can to comfort them.”
FAA and National Transportation Safety Board officials were at the crash site Sunday evening.
The plane’s tail number and details from the flight manifest have not yet been released.