As the investigation into a deadly plane crash in Plano continues, local business owners affected by the incident have been recounting their experiences.
The Plano Police Department reported Tuesday that a small plane had crashed near the intersection of West Park Boulevard and Midway Road just before 6 p.m., resulting in the death of the pilot. Witnesses on the scene said they saw the craft, later identified as a single-engine Mooney M20, nosedive before the collision, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The pilot was identified as 87-year-old Elzie Monroe McDonald of Arizona, who was only days away from marking his 88th birthday, according to Plano police.
The plane crashed just steps away from the entrance to Mama’s Daughters’ Diner, per Fox 4 KDFW. The restaurant manager, Laura Bowers, was working at the time of the crash.
“We all heard this noise; it was not a thud, it was a booming noise,” said Bowers, according to Fox 4. “I could see the flames around the door. I was able to push it open, and everything was in flames.”
The flames destroyed Bowers’ car, which had been parked in front of the restaurant.
Immediately following the crash, employees and customers were safely evacuated from the building, leaving unfinished meals on the tables.
Nancy Procaccini, the owner of Mama’s Daughters’ Diner, was not at the restaurant at the time of the crash. Still, she saw video footage of the flames and smoke captured by the restaurant’s security cameras. She expressed gratitude that none of her customers or employees were hurt in the crash.
“If it would’ve hit just a few more feet, I had people sitting right there: Children, mothers, I had one of my staff members, been with me 35 years, sitting there,” she said. “That’s what gets you. When you’ve got so many people in your house — mama’s house, that you love”, Procaccini told NBC 5 DFW.
The diner was closed the next day due to damage to the storefront from the smoke and flames, leaving staff unable to fill many of the restaurant’s Thanksgiving Day orders.
“To not have Mama’s food on their table, like they may have been used to for 10-20 years, I think about that,” said Procaccini, per Fox 4. “This is like our Super Bowl.”
Procaccini suggested in a social media post that residents lay flowers on the western side of the building in remembrance of McDonald. She also mentioned she expects the diner to reopen on Saturday.
Customers who were present during the crash responded to the Facebook post, praising and thanking staff members for their handling of the situation.
No one was injured at the Nail Addiction salon next door to the restaurant, but the crash left customers and employees shaken. One of the staff members was outside at the time of the crash and narrowly missed being struck by the plane.
“He’s safe but mentally affected,” the salon owner told NBC 5. “He and his wife [he] couldn’t sleep last night. [Me] and my wife couldn’t sleep last night either. Everyone is still very shocked from the incident.”
Investigators said they believe McDonald had been executing a “go around” emergency maneuver before the crash. They are still trying to determine if the airstrip at the nearby Air Park-Dallas Airport was the intended landing zone.
“That is something we are going to be looking into,” Brian Rutt, an investigator for the NTSB, told local media. “We will look at ATC records, radar data to confirm if that airstrip nearby had anything to do with this accident.”
The NTSB expects to have a preliminary report on the incident within the next 15 days.
