Father, son from The Woodlands killed in air crash
Experimental plane went down Sunday near La Porte airport
Authorities have identified the victims of an experimental plane crash in La Porte as a father and son from The Woodlands.
John Stewart Boyd, 93, and Gary Stewart Boyd, 64, were the occupants of the plane that crashed at 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Experimental Kolb Twinstar III was approaching the north side of the La Porte Municipal Airport when it crashed about 300 yards from the end of the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
La Porte Police Sgt. Bennie Boles said the plane went into a pipeline easement, causing no damage to ground structures or injuries to people other than the two occupants.
The La Porte Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the FAA were supporting the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation.
NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said the agency completed an on-scene investigation Monday. Investigators were collecting evidence before issuing a factual report for the accident.
A final report determining the probable cause of the accident usually takes 12 to 18 months.
“Our investigator completed his on-scene investigation, and a preliminary report should be out by the end of the week,” Weiss said.
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,” he said. “The front was smashed flat like a pancake.”
Now marketed as the Kolb Mark III, the plane involved in the crash is a kit-built light sport aircraft, designed for speed, according to the Kolb Aircraft website. “Although Kolb aircraft are easy to fly and have gentle flight characteristics, they are also high performance aircraft,” the website states.
If the NTSB investigation finds a safety issue with the aircraft, the agency would issue safety alerts or urgent safety recommendations about that particular model.