By Nicole Lopez
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
PLANO, Texas — The pilot of a small plane is dead after crashing near a strip mall in Plano, Plano Fire-Rescue and the Plano Police Department announced Tuesday.
A single-engine Mooney M20 crashed around 6 p.m. Tuesday outside of Mama’s Daughter’s Diner and a strip mall located at 6509 West Park Blvd.
Only the pilot was on board when the plane crashed outside the shopping center, according to Plano authorities. The pilot died in the crash and no one else has been reported injured, Plano Fire-Rescue said.
The identity of the pilot was not released by police and next of kin have not yet been notified.
The plane did not land on or collide with any other vehicles when it crashed, but an unoccupied vehicle nearby caught fire as a result of the crash, according to Plano police.
The plane took off from a single-runway airport, Air Park-Dallas Airport, shortly before crashing, sources told Star-Telegram media partner, WFAA-TV . The airport is less than half a mile away from the site of the crash.
The FAA and the National Safety Transportation Safety Board will jointly handle the investigation into the cause of the crash.
The crash comes after a small plane crashed into a car in McKinney on Nov. 11 after attempting to make an emergency landing. The pilot was trying to make an emergency landing at Aero County Airport in McKinney but was unable to stop the plane at the end of the runway.
The plane went through a fence and onto eastbound Virginia Parkway, where it crashed into a car driving by.
One person was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
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