On Thursday, the McKinney Fire Department confirmed that a small plane crashed into a home in the 200 block of Black Bear Drive around 5 p.m.
On Friday, McKinney police passed around fliers alerting residents that a large crane will be coming throuh their neighborhood Saturday morning to remove the wreckage. The process is expected to begin by 9 a.m. and could take several hours to complete.
In the meantime, police continue to guard the home as the family who was living there stays elsewhere due to the damage and investigation. No one on the ground was hurt, but the two people on the plane were taken to a nearby hospital. Both are female pilots.
The FAA confirmed that the plane was a Piper PA 28 (Cherokee). It's registered to one of the pilots, a Plano resident in her 60's. She remains hospitalized with significant injuries, along with the second victim who is said to be in critical condition.
It's unclear whether the pair was taking off or attempting to land at Aero Country Airport, which is about a quarter of a mile from the home.
Officials from the FAA and NTSB will investigate the crash.
Homeowner Jamillah Foster says she was in the house with her three young kids at the time of the crash.
“Before I could even understand that a plane had come through my house, I didn’t know what happened. I just knew something wasn’t right. It was debris everywhere and where were my kids?” said Jamillah Foster.
Though all three were safe, Foster's youngest was sitting just 10 feet from the wreckage. She says the 1-year-old was watching cartoons on a TV on the wall the plane crashed into.
"He was facing the wall that the plane crashed into... just facing it. And that’s the part that just had me… for a while, because that could’ve been tragic," said Foster.
According to officials, Foster's family will stay with friends for the duration of the investigation and repairs.
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Meanwhile, neighbors are eager for information about the cause of the crash and what if anything can be done to keep it from happening again.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen next week. Is this going to be addressed in a meaningful way? We don’t know," said Harshitha Holmes.
Gary Gilchrist lives three doors down from Foster. He worries because this isn't the first plane crash in the area. A mid-air collision killed three people in McKinney on New Year's Eve in 2016.
"It makes you think. The one two years ago, it was close enough, but then to be three doors down. That's really close," he said.
Aero Country Airport doesn't have a control tower. It was built decades ago in what used to be empty fields. It's now surrounded by new development. Many homeowners knowingly moved nearby, but not all realized the risk at the time.
"It does make me question now with all the growth and the population, if it's safe for it to be here," Gilchrist said.
The airport is privately run. NBC 5 reached out to its management for comment and so far, has gotten no response.
