Tweet
Larry Gregory, president of Lone Star Flight Museum is a member of our church.
Victims ID'd in plane crash near Freeport
By Craig Hlavaty | October 23, 2013 | Updated: October 23, 2013 6:42pm
The Lone Star Flight Museum's P-51 Mustang Galveston Gal and B-17 Flying Fortress over Galveston Bay.
A World War II-era fighter plane crashed in Chocolate Bay near Freeport Wednesday killing both occupants onboard, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has identified the two victims as pilot Keith Hibbett, 51, of Denton, and passenger John Stephen Busby, 66. Busby is from the United Kingdom and was on vacation. DPS said the flight was part of his 41st wedding celebration. He paid for a flight aboard the vintage plane.
DPS and U.S. Coast Guard were called to the scene of the crash at around 12:30 p.m.
Galveston's Scholes International Airport director Hud Hopkins said that the plane, a P-51 Mustang named Galveston Gal, flew out of the airport today and is part of the Lone Star Flight Museum.
"The pilot was not in contact with air traffic control at the time of the crash," said Lynn Lunsford, Mid-States Public Affairs Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA does not yet know the cause of the crash.
Lunsford said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation.
Scholes director Hopkins said the plane is a part of a ride program at the airport that lets customers pay to take rides in vintage aircraft.
According to the Lone Star Flight Museum website, a P-51 Flight Experience costs $1,995 for a one-passenger flight. It is one of the more expensive flights you can buy at the airport.
Larry Gregory, president of Lone Star Flight Museum, said the pilot of the plane was very experienced, former military and a former airline pilot.
"This ... is one of the most difficult things that I have gone through," Gregory said. "The pilot is like a brother to me."
Gregory said he couldn't begin to guess what might have caused the crash.
"The airplane is meticulously maintained," Gregory said, adding that the plane had just returned from an airshow. "The plane was very special to us."
Gregory said authorities told him there was one witness to the crash, but he did not say where the witness might have been at the time.
Bill Roach, director of the Wings Over Houston Airshow, said the plane was scheduled to appear in the Oct. 26 show. The accident was not related to the event.
"While our hearts ache and we grieve, we will continue to share our love of aviation with our fans and move forward with our show," Roach said in a prepared statement. "And we will remember these two people, their families, and their friends in our thoughts and prayers now, during our show and in the difficult days ahead."
A P-51 Mustang is a single-engine fighter plane that was used in World War II and the Korean War.
According to a P-51 Mustang fan site, this plane began life in 1951 as a Royal Canadian Air Force warplane, serving until 1959.
All flights from the Lone Star Flight Museum have been suspended until they know what happened.
Victims ID'd in plane crash near Freeport
By Craig Hlavaty | October 23, 2013 | Updated: October 23, 2013 6:42pm
The Lone Star Flight Museum's P-51 Mustang Galveston Gal and B-17 Flying Fortress over Galveston Bay.
A World War II-era fighter plane crashed in Chocolate Bay near Freeport Wednesday killing both occupants onboard, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has identified the two victims as pilot Keith Hibbett, 51, of Denton, and passenger John Stephen Busby, 66. Busby is from the United Kingdom and was on vacation. DPS said the flight was part of his 41st wedding celebration. He paid for a flight aboard the vintage plane.
DPS and U.S. Coast Guard were called to the scene of the crash at around 12:30 p.m.
Galveston's Scholes International Airport director Hud Hopkins said that the plane, a P-51 Mustang named Galveston Gal, flew out of the airport today and is part of the Lone Star Flight Museum.
"The pilot was not in contact with air traffic control at the time of the crash," said Lynn Lunsford, Mid-States Public Affairs Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA does not yet know the cause of the crash.
Lunsford said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation.
Scholes director Hopkins said the plane is a part of a ride program at the airport that lets customers pay to take rides in vintage aircraft.
According to the Lone Star Flight Museum website, a P-51 Flight Experience costs $1,995 for a one-passenger flight. It is one of the more expensive flights you can buy at the airport.
Larry Gregory, president of Lone Star Flight Museum, said the pilot of the plane was very experienced, former military and a former airline pilot.
"This ... is one of the most difficult things that I have gone through," Gregory said. "The pilot is like a brother to me."
Gregory said he couldn't begin to guess what might have caused the crash.
"The airplane is meticulously maintained," Gregory said, adding that the plane had just returned from an airshow. "The plane was very special to us."
Gregory said authorities told him there was one witness to the crash, but he did not say where the witness might have been at the time.
Bill Roach, director of the Wings Over Houston Airshow, said the plane was scheduled to appear in the Oct. 26 show. The accident was not related to the event.
"While our hearts ache and we grieve, we will continue to share our love of aviation with our fans and move forward with our show," Roach said in a prepared statement. "And we will remember these two people, their families, and their friends in our thoughts and prayers now, during our show and in the difficult days ahead."
A P-51 Mustang is a single-engine fighter plane that was used in World War II and the Korean War.
According to a P-51 Mustang fan site, this plane began life in 1951 as a Royal Canadian Air Force warplane, serving until 1959.
All flights from the Lone Star Flight Museum have been suspended until they know what happened.
Comment