A Boston-bound plane crashed after a take-off from Houston Executive Airport on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, no major injuries were reported, officials confirm.
Only two minor injuries reported
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 fell into a field just outside the airport. All passengers and crew managed to leave the burning plane safely before the firefighters extinguished the flames.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Stephen Woodard told reporters at the scene that this was a good day, and a day of celebration for many people, considering that no lives were lost.
Two persons suffered minor injuries – one reported back pain, while the other had respiratory issues. They were taken to the hospital for medical treatment and later returned to the airport. There were 18 passengers, two pilots, and an attendant on board. The youngest passenger on the plane was ten years old.
The plane hit a fence while trying to gain altitude and erupted into flames shortly after
This was a charter flight full of baseball fans headed to Boston for a game between the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox.
In its statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that MD-87 went through a fence and caught fire in a field just after 10 a.m. while attempting to take off. It traveled about 500 feet on the runaway before the accident.
The fire was quickly contained, partly because road and bridge crews were located just a few hundred yards away from the crash site, and they helped firefighters drag hoses across the pasture.
The FAA and the NTSB will conduct an investigation
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash, with the NTSB as the lead agency. The NTSB’s spokesperson Keith Holloway stated that the agency’s investigators will be arriving on Wednesday.
The investigation will shed some light on the cause of the accident and, in turn, improve air traffic safety. Airplanes are still the safest way to travel, but accidents do happen. It’s what prompts 36% of Americans to invest in life insurance in the future, as the latest reports indicate.
