One dead in small plane crash in Katy
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Part of a Katy neighborhood is still blocked off Saturday evening as the FAA investigates a plane crash that killed a man from Houston.
A single engine plane crashed in the 20200 block of Kingsland Boulevard in Katy on Saturday around 10:30 a.m. One person is dead. Both the building and the plane were fully engulfed in flames.
The identity of the pilot killed has been confirmed as Noshir Medhora, 69.
The plane took off from West Houston airport. Medhora hadn't been in the air long before he realized something was wrong and tried to get to safety. He called the airport and tried to turn around to go back but crashed. Troopers say he called the airport, but they don’t know what he said, or if he made a distress call before he crashed into this Katy neighborhood.
“I hear the noise, first I hear the crash in the trees," said Carmen Maca, who lives nearby. "At first I thought it was here in my driveway because it was so close."
The seat and fuselage landed in the pool, creating a wide debris field.
The plane crashed into a building and remnants of the aircraft also flew into a nearby community pool. DPS confirms that a wedding was planned for the club house on Saturday, meaning the pool was empty and no one was injured.
Had this happened 30 minutes later, this story may have been very different.
“We were very very fortunate that the pool was not occupied. My understanding is the pool opens at 11 and this occurred at 10:30," said Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap.
Troopers call the sad but low death toll, a miracle.
Federal Aviation Administration and Texas DPS Southeast will be leading the investigation, with the Harris County Fire Marshal Office and HAZMAT will be assisting.
Earlier on Saturday there were concerns that chemicals inside that building might have been spread by the water used to put out the fire. But at this point, we’ve been told everything is contained and the community at large is safe.
This is a developing story.