Vintage Plane Crashes After Takeoff In Texas, All 13 Passengers Survive The Fiery Wreck
A vintage plane crashed just after takeoff in Texas, but all 13 passengers onboard were able to survive the fiery wreck.
The accident took place at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Burnet Municipal Airport, KTXS reported. The plane was a C-47 vintage aircraft called the “Bluebonnet Belle,” and was heading to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for an air show at the time it crashed.
The report noted that the plane crashed shortly after takeoff. Though all 13 people on board were able to exit the plane as it burst into flames, one of those passengers had to be airlifted to a hospital with significant burn injuries, KTXS reported. The condition of that passenger was not known.
The fire from the burning plane also ignited nearby grass, though firefighters were able to put out the fire, the report noted.
It was not clear exactly how the plane crashed or whether mechanical failure could have been at play.
The plane crash comes just two days after another tragic wreck left 17 people dead. In Missouri, a “Ride the Ducks” boat sank after a powerful thunderstorm moved across Table Rock Lake outside Branson. The amphibious boat had 31 people on board at the time it was overtaken by heavy waves and sunk.
Reports indicated that the boat’s captain had told passengers they did not need to worry about wearing life jackets prior to the boat capsizing. Witnesses said that the conditions on the lake were treacherous with the storm moving in, and that the boat should have never ventured onto the lake.
Nine of those killed were from one family, reports noted, as they were on an outing in Branson that day. Survivors described a harrowing scene as the boat slipped below the waves and pulled some of the survivors under the waters as they tried to swim to safety.
PLANE CRASH CAUGHT ON CAMERA: A WWII-era plane called the "Bluebonnet Belle" crashed upon takeoff in Burnet on Saturday morning. All 13 people on board survived, but the plane caught fire. https://t.co/gjMPmeDg0n
(Video courtesy: Matt Gallagher) pic.twitter.com/jtmEs0UDUI— KTXS News (@KTXS_News) July 21, 2018
All 13 passengers survive a fiery Texas plane crashhttps://t.co/iH4Z4r8bIb
— TIME (@TIME) July 21, 2018
As KY3 reported, these land-and-water craft are popular among tourists as they turn from driving tours to trips on local waterways, but have a history of fatal accidents.
“Duck boats, named for their ability to travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. Five college students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus, and 13 people died in 1999 when a boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.”
Authorities in Texas have not said what caused the vintage airplane to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the crash.
