An aircraft crashed Tuesday just outside of Houston after running off a runway and becoming engulfed in flames in a nearby field, Click2Houston reports.
Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry confirmed that 21 people, consisting of 18 passengers and three crew members, were aboard and managed to evacuate the plane safely. Two were transported to the hospital, one of whom was injured. No one was killed.
“Anytime you have plane that doesn’t make a landing on the runway like its supposed to, we’re always expecting the worst and hoping for the best and today, we absolutely, positively got the best outcome we could hope for,” said Tim Gibson, Emergency Service District Director for Waller-Harris Emergency Service District 200.
Authorities commented on the substantial effort needed to extinguish the blaze.
The crash caused a power outage for more than 1,800 homes in the area, but utility company CenterPoint Energy was able to restore power within a few hours for all but 17 customers.
Waller County Judge Trey Duhon said the plane, a 172-seat capacity McDonnell Douglas MD-87, was chartered to Boston where the Red Sox will host the Houston Astros at Fenway Park for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night.
The National Transportation Safety Board is heading up an investigation into the crash.
