NPR for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

One dead after plane leaving Denton crashes in Gainesville Tuesday night

Two planes fly by the control tower in 2021 at Denton Enterprise Airport, as seen from the intersection of Masch Branch Road and Airport Road.
DRC file photo
Two planes fly by the control tower in 2021 at Denton Enterprise Airport, as seen from the intersection of Masch Branch Road and Airport Road.

One person is dead and another was transferred to a hospital after a small plane from a Denton aviation school crashed in a residential yard north of the Gainesville Municipal Airport Tuesday night.

U.S. Aviation Academy CEO Mike Sykes confirmed the crash early Wednesday morning. He said the family had been notified.

The Cessna Skyhawk departed from the Denton Enterprise Airport, where U.S. Aviation Academy trains, at about 7:48 p.m. It was expected to arrive at the Gainesville Municipal Airport at about 8:44 p.m., according to FlightAware.

Dispatchers notified first responders of the crash on County Road 404 at about 8:58 p.m. Firefighters extricated two people from the aircraft, according to a dispatch broadcast.

The aircraft is owned by Wings Over Texas Holdings LLC, according to the Federal Aviation Administration registry.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office, which serves Cooke County, have not identified the deceased as of early Wednesday.