3 killed when small plane crashes into car near Houston airport

HOUSTON — Three people were killed Thursday after a small plane crashed into a car in a parking lot near a Houston airport, fire officials said.

Houston Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans said the plane crashed shortly after 1 p.m. into a car that was parked at a hardware store near Hobby Airport in the southeastern part of the city.

Fire Capt. Ruy Lozano said officials believe the three people killed in the accident were on the plane. No one was in the parked car that was hit by the plane, he said.

“It didn’t strike the building. No fire. No fuel spill,” Lozano said.

The single-engine Cirrus SR-22 aircraft had been trying to land at Hobby Airport when it crashed less than a mile northwest of the airport, said Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Records in the FAA registry show the plane is registered to Safe Aviation LLC in Moore, Oklahoma. Officials with Safe Aviation could not immediately be reached for comment.

It was not immediately known what caused the plane to crash. Lunsford said the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the crash investigation.