Military plane crashes in Lake Worth neighborhood; 2 pilots injured, 3 homes damaged
By James Hartley, Emily Brindley and Haley Samsel
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
September 19, 2021
One of three homes damaged by the plane crash
LAKE WORTH, TEXAS -- Two military pilots were seriously injured when they ejected from their plane before it crashed into the back yard of a home in North Texas during a training exercise Sunday morning.
No residents in the neighborhood, off Tejas Trail in Lake Worth, were injured, authorities said at a press conference Sunday afternoon. But families were displaced from three homes that had significant damage.
One of the pilot’s parachutes became tangled in power lines, and the other pilot landed in a nearby neighborhood, authorities said. Both were taken to local hospitals, one in critical condition and the other in serious condition, according to a MedStar official. The names of the pilots have not been released.
The plane crashed in a back yard between the 4000 blocks of Tejas Trail and Dakota Trail shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, according to Lake Worth police.
The neighborhood is near the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, in an area that the military has identified as a potential accident zone, because of its proximity to where planes take off and land, police said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Navy T-45C Goshawk jet trainer
A statement on
the Chief of Naval Air Training Facebook page said it was a Navy T-45C
Goshawk jet trainer aircraft assigned to Training Air Wing 2 at Naval
Air Station Kingsville, Texas, that crashed in Lake Worth, about two
miles north of Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
“The two occupants ejected from the aircraft,” the Navy’s statement said. “The instructor pilot is in stable condition; the student naval aviator’s condition is unknown but he is alive and receiving treatment. Both were transported to medical facilities for evaluation.”
“The pilots were conducting a routine training flight that originated from Corpus Christi International Airport,” the statement said. “The cause of the crash is unknown.”
The Naval Safety Center will be in charge of the investigation. Officials from the Navy, Air Force and Lockheed Martin responded to the scene along with first responders from Lake Worth and Fort Worth, authorities said.
The Red Cross is assisting residents who had to be evacuated from their homes, Lake Worth Fire Chief Ryan Arthur said.
“This incident could have been much worse knowing this plane went down in a residential area here in Lake Worth,” Arthur said.
Lake Worth first responders have had regular training exercises to practice for the possibility of a plane crash, which is one of their highest priorities for emergency drills because of the area’s “unique position” near the military base, Arthur said. He said this is first such crash during his time with the department.
The fire was contained to the plane, but the three homes were damaged by debris from the crash, officials said.
The accident also caused electrical outages within a two- to three-block radius, and the power may be out for a few days while the wreckage is removed from the area, authorities said.
Neighbors react
By mid-afternoon, authorities still had the crash site off Tejas and Dakota Trails blocked from traffic and media.
But neighbors near the edge of the boundary said they heard the crash Sunday morning.
Mary Joyner, whose mother lives near the crash site, said they were sitting at the kitchen table when they heard a “ba-boom.” In the same moment, the power went out.
Joyner said she assumed it was a blown transformer, and was confused when she saw people running down the street toward the source of the noise.
“That just wasn’t what I would’ve ever thought … an airplane crash would sound like.”
When she stepped into the front yard, she saw a plume of black smoke and smelled what she described as a metallic smell. She realized this wasn’t just a blown transformer.
Joyner said her mother has lived in the house for more than 50 years. It’s the house where Joyner grew up, and over time they’d become accustomed to the daily sound of planes flying overhead.
But Joyner said she can’t remember another plane crash since she was a child.
“You live here all your life, you know it can happen, the planes are right here,” Joyner said. “You always have the thought.”
Down the block, the Cox family said they, too, have gotten used to the air traffic. But when the plane crashed, Aaron Cox and his father. Jerry Cox, both heard what they described as a dull “pop pop.”
Aaron Cox said he also felt vibrations in the ground at the same time. And then, all at once, the power cut out.
Then there was the smell in the air.
“When you’re starting a grill up and you’ve sprayed the lighter fluid, that’s what it smelled like to me,” Aaron Cox said.
By about 2 p.m., both the Cox family and Joyner said their power hadn’t been restored. Joyner worried about her mother, who needs electricity for her oxygen machine. Both families said they hadn’t received any notification of when power might return.
2 comments:
Gravity is a bitch. Glad nobody was killed.
Isn't EVERYWHERE a potential aircraft accident zone?
Post a Comment