4 Dead After Small Plane Crashes Near Texas Airport
(CBSDFW.COM/CNN) -- Four people are dead after a small plane experienced engine trouble and crashed while attempting an emergency landing in Texas on Sunday.
The single engine plane crashed near the Hilltop Lakes Airport in Leon County around 10:50 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sgt. Erik Burse told CNN.
All four occupants, two men and two women, died in the crash, according to Burse. The plane was flying out of Austin and returning to Louisiana.
The identities of the victims have not yet been released.
A witness described the incident to KBTX, saying "[The pilot] got over the putt putt area across from the stables. He banked left almost over corrected and then banked right again and then he banked left one last time and when he did that second bank to the left he pretty much nose dived straight vertical into the ground."
It is unknown what type of plane it was, but the tail number Burse provided CNN shows that it belonged to a single-engine Piper Malibu Meridian, according to Flightaware.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is en route to the crash and Texas DPS is holding the scene until FAA arrives, Burse said.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a tweet that they are investigating the crash involving a Piper PA-46 but not traveling to the scene.
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