Dr Heath Smith (right) and two of his sons died in a small plane crash in Texas on Sunday (Pictures: Facebook)
A surgeon and his two young children were killed in a small plane crash in rural Texas.
Dr Heath Smith, a general and bariatric surgeon, was operating a twin-engine Cessna C310 aircraft with his six-year-old and eight-year-old sons on board on Sunday.
His plane lost radar and communication and crashed around 12.30pm west of the the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told USA Today.
The wreckage was found 10 miles southwest of Bridgeport Municipal Airport.
‘An NTSB investigator is en route to the scene and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning,’ stated the agency. ‘Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft.’
All three people aboard the aircraft died, said the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Smith was vice president of the Paradise Independent School District Board of Trustees and was a ‘part of our school district as an alumnus, parent, and board member’, said Paradise ISD Superintendent Will Brewer.
‘Our hearts are devastated for the Smith family,’ Brewer told WFAA.
‘Words cannot fully express the grief that we feel for their loss. The tragedy that this family has endured is unimaginable.
‘He was passionate about his love for Paradise ISD and his impact on students and staff will be long lasting. Please keep the Smith family in your prayers.’
The identities of Smith’s two boys were not released.
Smith was piloting the aircraft from Carrizo Springs near the US-Mexico border to Bridgeport when he crashed close to the unincorporated community of Poolville, which is roughly 40 miles west of Fort Worth.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and is being determined by the NTSB.
It happened less than three months after a lone pilot crashed his single-engine Cessna Skyhawk 172M plane into the Florida Everglades and was rescued after spending the night in a swamp.
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