Waller County Plane Crash: NTSB On Site For Investigation

WALLER COUNTY, TX — Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are in Waller County this week to gather evidence and begin an investigation into the fiery plane crash that occurred Tuesday morning at Houston Executive Airport.

The MD-87 plane failed to take off at around 10 a.m. Tuesday and ran off the runway, crashing through the perimeter fence before bursting into flames. All 21 passengers and crew survived and evacuated from the plane.

The debris path indicated the left wing struck trees, and the majority of the fire damage occurred after the plane came to a stop, according to NTSB spokesperson Michael Graham. The fire disintegrated most of the plane's fuselage, but the tail was still intact along with the engines.

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NTSB investigators will gather evidence on site for a week or two, but the investigation likely will last a year to 18 months, Graham said.

Investigators will look at airworthiness, engines, survival factors, operational factors and human performance, maintenance records, air traffic control and recorders to determine the cause of the crash. Investigators are interviewing crew members, passengers and witnesses of the crash.

The plane's black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder — are being sent to Washington to download their contents despite heavy fire damage, authorities said.

Parties to the investigation include the Boeing Company, which manufactured the plane, Pratt & Whitney, which manufactured the engines, and the Federal Aviation Administration, Graham said, adding other parties could be named as the investigation runs its course.

The NTSB is canvassing for video and photos of the crash. People may email those to the investigation at witness@ntsb.gov.