A man died and a woman was injured when a small plane crashed after touching down on the runway at a Houston-area airport, officials said.
The plane crashed Saturday afternoon just after landing at Pearland Regional Airport, said Sgt. Richard Standifer of the Texas Department of Public Safety. He said a malfunction, possibly with the landing gear, caused the plane to go off the runway and into a ditch between runways, where it struck an embankment.
"There was severe damage to the front of the fuselage," Standifer said.
He said that two people were aboard. The pilot, a 58-year-old man, died at the scene. The female passenger, 38, was able to walk away from the crash and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
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The two had taken off from Alvin, located about 10 miles south of Pearland, Standifer said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane was a single-engine PZL-104 Wilga.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
