Video: Private Plane Crashes at Houston Municipal Airport

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HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI) – A private plane crashes and burns in Chickasaw County this morning. Five people were onboard, two of them were taken to the hospital. Witnesses say about 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, a small plane approached the Houston Municipal Airport. Something went terribly wrong and the plane went down in flames.

“We heard the loud boom and then it hit the ground,” says Thomas Hodnett, who lives near the airport with his wife. They were on the front porch of their home just as the Beechcraft airplane attempted to land.

“We were out drinking coffee and this little plane came straight over the airport, made a circle and came in for a landing but it didn’t make it,” says Hodnett.

The private plane carried five passengers including the pilot. They all escaped as the plane burst in to flames. Twin engines are located on the plane’s wings but airport officials believe the plane caught fire because of a fuel leak.

“Basically what appeared to have happened, the airplane was landing and it was in a cross wind. The wind caught the wing and raised the wing and it went over into a ditch,” says Jack Lewis, the Manager of the Houston Airport.

William Gibson owns and operates a private plane at the Houston Airport. He says getting caught in a cross wind is common and you have to rely on your skill to avoid crashing.

“In wind situations such as a tail wheel airplane right behind me, you’re flying it with your feet and your rudder. It’s all coordination. You have to keep it down the center of the runway. Keep your nose ahead of you.

Two of the passengers on the plane suffered only minor injuries and were taken to Trace Regional Hospital in Houston. The pilot returned to the scene of the crash after being examined at the hospital but did not want to make a statement. The FAA was scheduled to investigate the crash at noon on Wednesday.