A person died after a plane crashed into a wooded area shortly after taking off from Mesquite Metro Airport in Texas Thursday morning.
A Cessna CitationJet took off from the airport around 7.40am with only a pilot on board, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The unidentified pilot died in the crash. No homes or structures were damaged from the crash, the Mesquite Police Department said.
The police department and Mesquite Fire Department responded to the scene.
Home surveillance footage captured the chilling moment after the aircraft crashed, as thick plumes of smoke were seen in the air.
Another clip showed the aftermath after the plane crashed into a wooded area near East Cartwright Road and Lawson Road, officials said.
Remnants of the plane and smoke were seen on the ground, while officials investigated the area.
The FAA told DailyMail.com that the agency will work alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the incident.
‘An NTSB investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive by tomorrow morning,’ a spokesperson with the NTSB told DailyMail.com.
‘Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.’
DailyMail.com contacted the Mesquite Police Department.
This is the latest plane crash horror to take place in the US, as the aviation industry has faced a particularly tumultuous start to the year.
On Sunday, multiple people were rushed to a hospital after a plane crash-landed in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.
Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and nearby vehicles.
The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.
Horrifying air traffic control audio revealed the pilot telling ground agents that they needed to turn around – but at one point he said that he couldn’t hear the radio because of all the wind noise, caused by the unlocked hatch.
The air traffic controller can be heard saying: ‘Pull up… the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, an FAA spokesperson said five people were on board the plane. They have all been transferred to local hospitals with various injuries.
Residents of the retirement home were instructed to ‘shelter in place’ as a precaution as initial investigations took place, but authorities have confirmed the pilot avoided nearby buildings and that nobody on the ground was injured.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
