CARROLLTON A small plane on its way to Houston crashed shortly after takeoff from Addison Airport Monday morning, killing one of the three men on board.
The plane went down in the 4200 block of Plano Parkway around 11:35 a.m. after reporting engine trouble and attempting to return to Addison Airport.
The crash site is about 100 feet from Hebron High School.
We just heard the plane sputtering, said Ken Couch, who was nearby. Then we heard a big 'swoosh,' so we figured something was going on.
Aviation experts report the plane is a Cirrus SR22, a small, single-engine aircraft capable of seating up to four people. The aircraft split in half on impact.
Emergency officials said three people were on board, and that was confirmed by David Stillwell, chief operating officer of Emerus, a company that operates a chain of 24-hour emergency rooms.
This morning, a plane carrying three of our employees crashed in the Dallas area, Stillwell said in a written statement. This is a tremendously difficult day for our company. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of those affected, and we ask that their privacy be respected.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office has identified the passenger who died as 47-year-old Richard Goodrum of Flower Mound.
One of the survivors was identified as Hemant Vankawala, 40, who was piloting the plane. He was reported to be in stable condition at The Medical Center of Plano. Friends describe him as an experienced pilot who was taking two associates to Houston for business.
Vankawala was able to steer clear of Hebron High School, which was less than 100 feet from the point of impact.
The other survivor was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, but no name or condition was available.
The SR22 is equipped with a parachute system that can be deployed in an emergency. A WFAA.com user reported seeing the pilot making a sharp turn over the intersection of Onyx Drive and Mesa Drive in Carrollton.
The engine was still running and I saw when the parachute opened from the back of the plane and then the plane began to fall towards Hebron High School, the user said.
In Monday's crash, however, the National Transportation Safety Board said the parachute did not fully deploy.
That could be maybe it just didn't have enough time, it was too low to the ground when it was deployed, or maybe a malfunction with the system, said NTSB air safety investigator Leah Yeager.
The Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association Web site reports that Cirrus aircraft equipped with the ballistic parachute technology had saved 26 aircraft with a total of 50 survivors as of May 12 of this year. The Web site states that no person has died when the CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) deployed within design parameters, which is when the plane is traveling under 150 mph and is above 920 feet in a descent.
The owner's association reports that there have been three previous Cirrus crashes involving parachute deployment in Texas:
- October 2002, Lewisville: The first reported CAPS activation. The pilot was unhurt.
- August 2010, Porter:One person seriously injured.
- December 2010, Nacogdoches: One person unhurt.
Lewisville Independent School District officials said the incident is not impacting the school day.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
WFAA photojournalist Gary Ultee and the WFAA.com staff contributed to this report.
E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com
