WWII Plane Crash Leaves Two Dead in Texas; Passenger Was Celebrating Wedding Anniversary

WWII plane crash in Texas left two people dead and a relic P-51 Mustang airplane destroyed.

The WWI-era plane crashed in Galveston, Texas yesterday at about 11:40 a.m. Photographs of the wreckage have not been released because of the grisly scene.

Authorities were alerted to the WWII plane crash when the captain of a nearby boat called in the alert. The captain of the boat was not sure of the location of the WWII plane but directed officials to the Chocolate Bay and Galveston Bay area, according to Petty Officer Steve Lehmann. The WWII plane crashed in an area where the water was four feet deep. The bodies of the passengers were recovered.

State officials say the pilot of the WWII plane was 51-year-old Keith Hibbett of Denton, Texas, and his passenger was 66-year-old John Stephen Busby were killed in the crash. It is believed that the passenger was visiting Texas from the United Kingdom with his wife as part of their 41st wedding anniversary. The plane ride cost about $2,000.

The WWII era P-51 Mustang plane was named "Galveston Gal."

According to the Federal Aviation Administration's Lynn Lunsford, the plane was the property of Galveston's Lone Star Flight Museum. At the time of the accident the pilot of the WWII plane was not in communication with air-traffic controllers when the accident occurred.

Jennifer Spaulding, who was boating nearby told KHOU.com "We saw the water spraying up in the air, but we never saw what it was. We never saw a plane go down or anything, so we didn't think anything like a plane. We just figured it was a boat."

There have been no reports on what caused the WWII-era plane to crash. There has been no explanation of the circumstances that led to the crash.