A McDonnell Douglas MD-87 caught fire and burst into flames as it was trying to take off from Houston Executive Airport (TME) at Waller County, Texas at approximately 10:08 local time on October 19, 2021.
The 33-year old aircraft (registration N987AK) was aborting the take-off when it overran runway 36 of the airport and crashed into a perimeter fence. It finally came to rest 300 meters further north where it caught fire, according to flight safety analyst JACDEC.
The aircraft overran runway 36 during an aborted take-off across the perimeter fence and ended about 300 m further north where it caught fire and burned to destruction. All 21 onboard reportedly survived.@abc13houston pic.twitter.com/RTFGlAztUS
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) October 19, 2021
All 21 people onboard–18 passengers and 3 crew members were able to evacuate safely. Two people were taken to local hospitals, the Waller County Sheriff’s Office told local media. One person suffered a minor back injury, and the other person was experiencing respiratory issues.
LIVE VIDEO: Plane crash near Houston Executive Airport under investigation. All 21 people on board got out safely https://t.co/x6sSItY2NM pic.twitter.com/YfKshS2ZDS
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) October 19, 2021
According to KHOU 11 Houston, the owner of the plane, and one of the survivors is James Alan Kent, a prominent Houston developer and rodeo director.
Kent and his group, which included his wife and 10-year old son, were headed to Boston for the American League Championship Series baseball game between the Red Sox and Astros. The intended departure and destination of the flight, taken by Aviation Safety Network:
A passenger who did not want to be identified told KHOU 11, “It was going to be the trip of a lifetime and then I came to a quick halt! Going down the runway, and it just all the sudden they slammed on the brakes.” “Things were flying around and when it finally came to a stop, they just said ‘Get out, get out’ because we thought it was going to explode,” the passenger said. “It was already on fire before we got out of it!” A spokesperson for Kent released this statement regarding the incident.
Statement from Alan Kent & company, the owner of the plane the crashed in Katy today: “We are extremely grateful that there were no fatalities or serious injuries.
We will be working with the FAA and the NTSB to ensure that we are complying with all of their requirements.” @KHOU pic.twitter.com/HnTF9IMOor— Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) October 19, 2021
The National Transport Safety Board said that they will launch a team to investigate the crash.
The NTSB is launching a go-team to investigate Tuesday’s crash of a MD-87 airplane near Brookshire, Texas. Check Twitter @ntsb_newsrooom for updates.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) October 19, 2021