Three killed when plane crashes at King Ranch in Texas
Jan. 3, 2007
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday were looking into the cause of a private plane crash in brushy ranch country that claimed the lives of three young East Texans.
The Cessna 172H in which they were flying crashed around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Norias Division of Texas' famed King Ranch. The area where the wreckage was found is about four miles southeast of Armstrong, a community in Kenedy County, officials said.
According to FAA records, the single-engine airplane was owned by Joe Smith Farms Inc. of Jacksonville. The deceased are Jacksonville resident Michael Joe Smith, 26, who was the pilot, John Gartman, 14, and Robert Loughmiller, 16, both of New Summerfield, said a spokeswoman from the Texas Department of Public Safety's regional office in Corpus Christi.
It was around 8 p.m. when Corpus Christi air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft after it left Weslaco en route to Jacksonville, in Cherokee County.
National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigators examined the scene on Wednesday, but no conclusive findings were released.
Wreckage was located by U.S. Border Patrol and state Department of Public Safety agents about an hour after the crash. The wreckage, including separated wings and a crumpled tail, was collected and brought to a secure area in Dallas for further investigation by multiple agencies.
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