HOUSTON — Two people were injured but all the 21 onboard a plane that crashed on Tuesday in Waller County in south central U.S. state of Texas are safe, authorities said.
Local media reported that the plane caught fire and the flames sent large, dark plumes of smoke into the air that could be seen miles away.
However, everyone on board, including 18 passengers and three crewmembers, got out safely. Only two of them were taken to hospital for minor injuries.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane heading to Boston rolled through a fence and caught fire in a field while attempting to depart from the Houston Executive Airport shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday local time.
The aircraft is a McDonnell Douglas MD-87, which has fixed wings and two engines, said the FAA.
Emergency crews worked for over an hour to put out the flames from the decimated aircraft, local media reported.
Utility company CenterPoint Energy said the plane took out an overhead powerline during takeoff, leaving a temporary outage impacting more than 1,800 customers near the scene of the crash.
It’s not immediately clear whether the powerline contributed to the crash. An investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board is underway.