PLANO, Texas — A pilot was killed when a single-engine Mooney M20 airplane crashed in Plano outside of Mama's Daughters' Diner Tuesday evening, and investigators are looking into how it happened.
On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA officials confirmed the pilot was the only person on board when the crash happened shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The plane went down outside of the shopping center that houses the restaurant, which is located at 6509 W. Park Blvd.
Officials have identified the pilot as 87-year-old Elzie M. McDonald from Aguila, Arizona. His family told WFAA he was flying into Dallas for Thanksgiving to see family.
"McDonald was just days away from celebrating his 88th birthday," the Plano Police Department posted.
Brian Rutt, the NTSB investigator, said in an update Wednesday that the plane crashed and caught fire. Rutt said no one on the ground was injured, but a nearby vehicle also caught fire and was destroyed.
Rutt did not have many details to share Wednesday, as officials were in the early stages of their investigation. He said investigators were still looking to see if the plane had any data recorder or a communication device; those devices are not required on planes such as the Mooney M20, Rutt said.
The crash site is located less than half a mile from a nearby single-runway airport called the Air Park-Dallas Airport. Sources originally told WFAA that the plane took off from this location shortly before crashing.
However, communication from McDonald to the ATC staff at the airport indicates that the 87-year-old was trying to land there before saying it was too dark to do so. McDonald can be heard saying he would look at landing at Addison's airport instead before communications go silent.
The FAA preliminary report released Wednesday morning said the crash happened "while executing a go around," but more information was not released.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a plane take a sharp nosedive before crashing in the parking lot. A new video shared with WFAA on Wednesday showed dashcam footage of the plane taking a sharp dive, and then, a few seconds later, smoke was seen rising from the area.
Re-watch the NTSB's full update:
Video from the scene showed firefighters responding to the plane and the nearby vehicle on fire and dousing the flames with water from hoses.
Mama's Daughters' Diner is located in a populated part of the North Dallas suburb, about a mile northwest of the intersection of Dallas North Tollway and President George Bush Turnpike.
The FAA and the NTSB will jointly handle the investigation into the cause of the crash, the FAA said.
Mama's Daughters' Diner said its Plano location will be closed on Wednesday, which is, being right before Thanksgiving, normally one of its busiest catering days of the year. The restaurant said it is alerting customers to orders being canceled. They said they were sorry that they had to cancel those orders but said their thoughts and prayers were with the pilot and their family.
Security video from the restaurant shows patrons and staff rushing to see what happened after McDonald's plane crashed just feet from the door.
Food was still on the tables from when those patrons got up at the diner on Wednesday.
McDonald had recently received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA--which is given to aviators who have 50 years of piloting and air operations under their belt.
McDonald lived in Aguila partly due to the fact that the community is full of aviators and centers around the airport. He was the main point of contact for the Experimental Aircraft Association's 883 Chapter.
His daughter told WFAA that he grew up in Dallas, graduated from SMU, and was an engineer when he wasn't in the cockpit.
He worked for Hughes Aircraft for a time, then opened up his own business creating circuit boards for industrial lighting involved in sports facilities. He also, his daughter says, made car burglar alarms when she was young, long before automakers put them in vehicles.
The FAA doesn't have an age limit for pilots operating with a private license--they do, however, require medical checkups and biannual flight reviews to maintain that license.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for more details.