Twin Engine Airplane Crashes In South Fort Worth
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Terrifying moments in south Fort Worth after a twin-engine Cessna airplane crashed Wednesday morning.
The plane went down in a field around 10:00 a.m., just after takeoff from Fort Worth Spinks Airport, near I-35W and State Highway 174.
Large chunks of burning debris could be seen from Chopper 11.
"When it [the plane] crashed, it burned, so most of the plane has been destroyed from the crash," Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Tim Hardeman explained.
The plane's owner, John Campbell of Burleson, was one of the people onboard the 1970's era Cessna when it went down.
In an interview with KRLD NewsRadio 1080 Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said there was some indication the plane was having problems.
"Shortly before the aircraft crashed the pilot did notify the air traffic controllers at Spinks Airport that the airplane's door had popped open and that he was attempting to return to the airport."
It isn't known if the open door was a factor in why the plane crashed.
When Fort Worth Fire Department firefighters and EMT workers arrived at the scene they found two people injured, but walking around.
"They walked away from the plane. They met with the workers on the dirt roadway behind me," Hardeman said. "The plane crashed a few hundred feet off the roadway, so they were able to make it out of the plane and onto the roadway on their own."
The men had serious burns on their arms, legs and hands and were taken by CareFlite air ambulance to the burn unit at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
The eight seat, fixed-wing Cessna 421 aircraft is registered to Campbell. Officials have not confirmed the identity of the second person on the plane. No word on either man's condition.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration did verify that there were only two people on the plane.
The area near the crash is charred and firefighters worked for nearly an hour putting out surrounding grass fires.
No word on where the flight was heading.
FAA officials continue to investigate the crash.
