An avid pilot taking family and friends on a joyride was killed when his single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a rural airfield in Wise County Thursday night, injuring three others.
Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety said 63-year-old Curtis "Scotty" Moore was flying his Cessna 172 aircraft and had just taken off from Rhome Meadows Airport at about 7:30 p.m. when for some unknown reason the plane hit the ground and flipped upside down.
Family members said Moore, who was killed in the crash, was on his third flight of the day and was giving recreational rides friends and family members.
Three passengers were on board with Moore at the time of the crash, including two boys, ages 9 and 14, and family friend 35-year-old Brently Smith, of Azle.
Smith and one of the juveniles were airlifted to Fort Worth hospitals; the second child was also injured and taken to a Fort Worth hospital by ground.
Family members told NBC 5 one of the children is a member of Moore's family and the other is a family friend. None of the injuries are life threatening and mainly involve cuts to the face and some possible broken bones.
Moore's daughter told NBC 5 she was on a flight with her father just before the one that crashed and that there was no sign of anything being out of the ordinary.
Moore's family members didn't speculate on what could have caused the crash. They added in addition to being a pilot, Moore was a SCUBA diver and skydiver and owned Skydive Cowtown.
The cause of the crash remains unclear; the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
NBC 5 's Vanessa Brown, Tim Ciesco, Allie Spillyards, Matt Jackson and Eline De Bruijn contributed to this report.
