Houston officials report that an MD-87 jet has crashed in Waller County, near Houston. The Federal Aviation Administration says that the plane took off from the Houston Executive Airport before going down shortly after takeoff.
At around 10 a.m CT Tuesday, the aircraft rolled down the runway and hit a fence before erupting into flames in a field nearby, says ABC 13. Overhead footage shows the smoldering wreckage after being doused by firefighters on the scene.
The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that the plane was headed to Boston from the executive airport. The airport primarily services corporations and private aviation clients.
FOX-40 confirmed that somehow, no one was seriously injured or killed in the accident. One person reported mild back pain.
The view from helicopters shows a completely decimated plane, with only the end of the tail remaining. The total count of all passengers was 21, with 18 being guests and 3 being crew members, the Waller County Sheriff’s Office states.
Officials on the scene also reported that a 10-year-old boy was on board and made it out safely. Rescuers only took two passengers to the hospital, and none were severely injured.
ABC 13 reached out and found the owner of the jet, J. Alen Kent. Kent owns Flair Builders, a “custom home builder” from Houston. Kent’s wife told reporters that the plane was going to Game 4 of the ALCS, featuring the Red Sox and the Astros.
CenterPoint Energy reports outages to around 1,800 customers in the area. They say the crash “took out an overhead line,” which likely caused the outages. Meanwhile, FOX-40 wrote that the jet is “registered to a Houston-area investment firm.” The National Transportation Safety Board is spearheading the investigation alongside the FAA.
