2 dead after ultralight aircraft crashes on Texas interstate

Associated Press
Updated ·1 min read
An ultralight aircraft sits mangled along Interstate 14 and the East Central Texas Expressway in front of Seton Medical Center in Harker Heights, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. Two people were killed in the accident, authorities said. (Thaddeus Imerman/The Killeen Daily Herald via AP)

HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (AP) — Two men died after their ultralight aircraft crashed on an interstate in front of a hospital in Central Texas on Thursday, authorities said.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko said a 911 call came in about 11 a.m. that a plane had gone down on Interstate 14 near the city limits of Harker Heights and Killeen.

Washko said the two men aboard the Quicksilver MX II Sprint aircraft were taken to Seton Medical Center Harker Heights, where they were pronounced dead.

Washko said the two men who were killed were 71-year-old David Wesley, who was the pilot, and 54-year-old Stephen Cockrell. Both men were from Killeen.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro said the single-engine aircraft hit a guardrail on the interstate. He said there were no immediate reports of anyone on the ground being injured.

The aircraft took off from nearby Skylark Field Airport in Killeen, Washko said. He did not know its destination.

Washko said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

Harker Heights is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Austin.