2 killed as plane crashes into trailers near Texas airfield, nearby building catches fire

Two people were killed after a plane crashed near an airport in Tarrant County, Texas, on Sunday. Emergency crew found the victims after the aircraft crashed near Hicks Airfield around 1:30 pm (local time).

While confirming the news to The New York Times, a Fort Worth Fire Department spokesperson said that the plane struck a parking lot where 18-wheeler trailers and campers were being stored.

The crash soon caused a fire, which even spread to a nearby commercial building. Videos circulating online showed fire crews battling flames at the scene as thick, dark smoke rose into the air shortly after the crash. “We thought we were responding to two separate incidents,” the fire department spokesperson told NYT. “Later on, we realised it was all part of the same one.”

Meanwhile, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office told The Independent that there had been a plane crash, but provided no further details. The fire department eventually confirmed to CBS Texas that the blaze is under control.

Hicks Airfield is a private airport about 16 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. It is located just off the US Route 287 Business, which was blocked from both directions after the plane crash.

Lois Kinman, a representative for Hicks Airfield, told the NYT the plane was not based at the airport. Meanwhile, an unnamed witness told WFAA they were working at a nearby cafe when they heard a loud boom, and a customer ran inside asking them to call 911.

When they ran outside, they saw that the plane appeared to have crashed into the parked trucks. Meanwhile, another witness named Lauren Anderson told the NYT that she saw a “giant black cloud of smoke” that appeared to be 100 feet wide. Once crews responded and the smoke cleared, Anderson said it “kind of looks like nothing happened.”

“There was probably about a 20-to 30-minute window where it was just nonstop emergency vehicles,” she told the outlet.