An Azle High School senior and his father are both dead after their plane crashed in western Tarrant County on Saturday.
In a letter to parents Sunday, Azle High School Principal Randy Cobb confirmed 18-year-old Jack Schwantz was killed in the crash. The pilot of the plane, identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office as 55-year-old Charles Schwantz, the teenager's father who was piloting the plane, was also killed.
"Charles Schwantz was an accomplished commercial pilot, and Jack had a passion for flying as the two spent many Saturdays flying together," Azle football coach Devon Dorris told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in a text.
Dorris tweeted that those who knew Jack Schwantz, a lineman on the varsity team, "knew he was one of the greatest humans to ever put on the Azle Hornet jersey. That's not talk; that's truth."
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Crisis counselors were made available to students at the high school on Monday.
The letter asked for prayers for Schwantz's family and offered assistance to students impacted by the loss.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a single-engine Aeronca 7AC crashed just before 9 a.m. According to officials, the plane appeared to have crashed near 7649 Confederate Park Road.
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The FAA, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, the Lake Worth Fire Department, and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner responded to the scene.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The aircraft was 75 years old, according to FAA records.
