BRYAN, TX — Three people are dead and one is in the hospital in critical condition after an airplane crash at Coulter Airfield in Bryan.
A Piper PA24 single-engine airplane with four souls on board crashed around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Federal Aviation spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said.
Four occupants were located inside the plane. Three of them were pronounced deceased on scene, according to the Bryan Police Department.
The surviving occupant was transported to CHI St. Joseph Regional Hospital in critical condition for their injuries.
The deceased have been identified as 54-year-old David Walker, 51-year-old Tamara Walker, and 21-year-old Victoria Walker of Farmersville, Texas.
The person transported to the hospital has been identified by family as Luke Armstrong. Both he and Victoria are students at Texas A&M University.
According to the FAA's report, one of the fatalities was flight crew and the other 2 were passengers. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday that the pilot had purchased the Piper PA-24-250 airplane about a week earlier.
According to a family member, the purpose of the flight was for the pilot to take his family members for a sightseeing flight in the local area.
According to security video footage at the Coulter Field Airport (CFD), Bryan, Texas, the airplane utilized runway 15 for the takeoff. After takeoff the airplane descended and impacted terrain. The airplane came to rest on a flat grass field on the departure end of runway 15 on airport property.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Sources who were landing at Coulter Airfield at the time say they saw the airplane upside down.