1 Dead, 1 Injured in Fiery Twin-engine Plane Crash in Gainesville

One person died Sunday and another was critically injured after a small aircraft caught fire during landing at Gainesville Municipal Airport, officials say.The twin-engine Piper PA-34 crashed a quarter-mile east of Runway 18 as it prepared to land about 4 p.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said. The plane, which had two people on board, burned after impact, he said. Officials have not identified the person who died, said Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Mark Tackett. The other person on board was flown in critical condition to Parkland Memorial Hospital. In a statement obtained by the Gainesville Daily Register, the Denton-based U.S. Aviation Academy identified the person killed as a student and the injured passenger as a flight instructor."All of our hearts are heavy as we collectively mourn our student and friend," Assistant CFO Justin Sykes said in the statement. " ... Our hearts are with our student's and instructor's families, friends and loved ones."According to FlightAware.com, the plane departed at 2:40 p.m. from the Denton Enterprise Airport, near Westcourt Road. It was scheduled to land in Gainesville, about 70 miles northeast of Dallas, at 4 p.m. A passerby reported the crash to the Cooke County sheriff's office about 4:20 p.m. and DPS troopers responded to a pasture north of the airport, where the plane was found, the Daily Register reported. The cause of the crash had not been determined Sunday evening. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, Lunsford said.   Continue reading...