OWASSO, Okla. (AP) — A man took off in his small plane from a private airstrip, landed two miles away in a neighborhood, tried to take off again and crashed, killing him and injuring his grandson, investigators said.
The four-seat Cessna 180 carrying pilot William Barnes, 61, and Beau Hall, 11, clipped a traffic sign while taxiing and hit a power line after the second takeoff Sunday, officials said. The plane crashed nose-first into a suburban yard and burned.
Beau Hall was in critical condition.
It's not clear why Barnes landed in the neighborhood near the airstrip, about 15 miles northeast of Tulsa, or tried to take off again rather than seek assistance.
"Why was he landing here?" said Tim LeBaron, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. "That's a good question. I don't know if we are ever going to know."
No witnesses mentioned signs of engine sputtering before the accident, LeBaron said.
Barnes may have been trying to land at an airport, surrounded by hangars and homes, that is near the street where he landed, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
