Plane crashes in La Porte, killing 2 aboard

Investigators are scheduled to arrive Monday to look into the crash of a small experimental airplane, which killed two people Sunday in La Porte.

The single-engine plane was heading into the north side of the La Porte Municipal Airport around 9 a.m. on Sunday when it went down about 300 yards from the end of the runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It landed nose-first in a pipeline easement in the 11000 block of North Avenue H.

Officials did not immediately say what caused the crash, but the plane was completely destroyed in the wreck.

No one on the ground was injured, but both passengers died. Authorities have not yet released their names or ages.

Mark Bertram, who lives in La Porte, said he saw the plane Sunday when he rode his motorcycle past the airport just a few minutes after the crash.

“The tail was straight up in the air,” Bertram said. “The front was smashed flat like a pancake.”

The crash didn’t damage any structures in the surrounding Lomax neighborhood, according to the La Porte Police Department.

The Texas Department of Public Safety was on the scene Sunday, but La Porte police said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the crash when investigators arrive on Monday.

The plane, an Experimental Kolb Twinstar III, was an amateur-built aircraft. These planes are classified as “experimental” by the FAA and used for noncommercial, recreational purposes. They are inspected for airworthiness and must be flown by a licensed pilot.