The people killed were aboard the plane, the authorities said. One woman was rescued from a burning mobile home in Odessa after the crash on Tuesday morning.
Two people were killed when the private business jet they were on crashed into a mobile home park in West Texas early on Tuesday morning, the authorities said. The crash caused a fire, injuring one woman who was rescued from a burning mobile home.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that the plane, a Cessna Citation 550, crashed around 7 a.m. after taking off from the Ector County Schlemeyer Airport in Odessa.
Sheriff Mike Griffis of Ector County said at a news conference that he had heard from witnesses who had said the plane appeared to have struggled to gain altitude before it clipped a power line and crashed into an alleyway in Odessa, a small city of about 114,000 residents that is southeast of the New Mexico border.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said that Joseph Vincent Summa, 48, of Bellaire, Texas, was the pilot, and Joleen Cavaretta Weatherly, 49, of Orange, Texas, was a passenger. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s obvious the pilot attempted to avoid the houses,” Sheriff Griffis said.
The private business jet clipped a power line before crashing at the mobile home park, according to witnesses.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that the crash was under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board said that investigators were expected to arrive in Odessa on Wednesday to examine the scene and recover the aircraft.
The crash, Sheriff Griffis said, caused at least two explosions and a fire at the mobile home park. Chief Jason Cotton of Odessa Fire Rescue said at the news conference that dozens of emergency workers had responded to the fire. The condition of the woman who was rescued from a burning mobile home was unclear.
Images shared by the local authorities showed blazing flames engulfing vehicles, burning fences and damaging other structures. Other images that were circulating on social media captured thick, black smoke billowing into the sky from the site of the crash.
Chief Cotton said that the damage from the crash and the fire had extended for about an “entire block,” including to a restaurant named Dewey’s. The restaurant said in a Facebook post that no one at Dewey’s was injured, and that it was unclear when the restaurant would reopen.
The fire was under control within a couple of hours, Chief Cotton said. Operations at the airport did not appear to be significantly affected by the fire, Sheriff Griffis said.
