Plane carrying 21 crashes after hitting fence during takeoff in US; all on board survive

October 20

A private jet burst into flames during a take-off attempt at a small airport outside Houston on Tuesday, but all 21 people on board managed to escape without serious injury, US aviation officials said.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 was departing the Houston Executive Airport just after 10 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) when it rolled through a fence and caught fire, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in an email to Reuters.

All 18 passengers and three crew members were able to get out safely. Two people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry told Reuters.

The passengers were headed to Boston to see the Houston Astros play the Red Sox in Game 4 of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series, Guidry said.

The plane is registered to J. Alan Kent, who owns Flair Builders, a Houston-based custom homebuilder, ABC 13 Eyewitness News in Houston reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash, the FAA said.

Reuters