Pilot describes seeing deadly Texas plane crash

Addison, Texas — New details are emerging about the victims of a small plane crash outside Dallas. All 10 people on board were killed Sunday morning when the plane crashed into a hangar just after takeoff.

Among the passengers who died was Alice Maritato, a sophomore in high school and her brother, middle school student Dylan Maritato. They were traveling with their mother, Ornella and step-father Brian Ellard, heading to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board found the cockpit voice recorder late Sunday night.

Pilot David Snell witnessed the crash from a nearby hangar.

“Myself and my other pilot friend knew that the plane was not producing the type of takeoff power that it typically would by the sound, it wasn’t climbing the way it typically would and it appeared a little tail low and [we] knew that it was in trouble,” he said.

The twin-engine Beechcraft Super King was taking off at the north end of the airport. Witnesses said it lifted off the runway, reaching about 300 feet, when it began losing power and altitude. The plane then veered left and dropped its left wing, before slamming into the hangar and being consumed by fire. 

“All my years of flying I’ve never seen anything like that. But my thoughts are [with] the families, the people, the lives changed and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Snell said.