PEARLAND, Texas – A man died and a woman was injured when a small plane crashed after touching down on the runway at a Houston-area airport, officials said.
The plane crashed Saturday afternoon just after landing at Pearland Regional Airport, said Sgt. Richard Standifer of the Texas Department of Public Safety. He said a malfunction, possibly with the landing gear, caused the plane to go off the runway and into a ditch between runways, where it struck an embankment.
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“There was severe damage to the front of the fuselage,” Standifer said.
He said that two people were aboard. The pilot, a 58-year-old man, died at the scene. The female passenger, 38, was able to walk away from the crash and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
DPS officials told KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, that they were married.
The two had taken off from Alvin, located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Pearland, Standifer said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane was a single-engine PZL-104 Wilga.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.