Odessa (Texas): A small plane crashed in a West Texas neighbourhood Tuesday, killing the pilot and a passenger and setting off a large fire on the ground that injured a woman, authorities said. Witnesses said the plane struggled to gain altitude after taking off from an Odessa airport and then struck a power line before crashing in an alley at about 7 am, according to authorities. Both people aboard the plane died.
“It's obvious the pilot attempted to avoid the houses,” Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said. The large fire on the ground came after a couple of explosions after the plane crash, he said.
Massive fire after crash
In addition to a couple of mobile homes, some outbuildings in backyards also caught on fire, said Odessa Fire Rescue Chief Jason Cotton. The woman who was injured had to be rescued from one of the burning mobile homes and was taken to a hospital, he said. There was also damage to vehicles, fences and a restaurant in the city of about 114,000.
The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the pilot as Joseph Vincent Summa, 48, of the Houston suburb of Bellaire, and the passenger as Joleen Cavaretta Weatherly, 49, of Orange, which is east of Houston.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Cessna Citation business jet. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
Africa plane crash
Earlier today, another small plane crashed in Africa. A small plane crashed into Lake Malawi on Tuesday with three people onboard, an official in Malawi said. A Dutch passenger survived and was rescued by fishermen but another passenger and the pilot were missing. Malawi's Information Minister Moses Kumkuyu said in a statement that the rescued passenger is female but did not give her age. She sustained minor injuries and is being treated at a hospital, he added.
The plane crashed close to the shoreline of Lake Malawi in shallow water, Kumkuyu said. He said the aircraft had been located and a rescue effort was underway. The plane was a Cessna C210-type aircraft, which can typically carry six people, going from the central town of Nkhotakota on the shore of the lake to the southern town of Liwonde. It was operated by the Nyasa Express charter airline, according to the statement.
Lake Malawi is Africa's third largest lake and is around 580 kilometres long, more than half the length of the country.
(With inputs from agency)
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