Plane Skids Off Runway at Palestine Municipal Airport

Jun. 29—Emergency crews responded to a plane crash at the Palestine Municipal Airport, 1278 CR 421, on Monday morning.

According to Police Chief Mark Harcrow, a small aircraft, with two passengers, skidded off the runway after landing at around 11 a.m. on June 28. Palestine Police and Fire Departments responded.

With only a scratch reported, neither of the passengers, identified as Tami and Craig Young, were seriously injured.

The Youngs said they were from a small town in Northern Idaho and had just purchased the biplane. The couple said they flew the plane Sunday, June 27 with no problems.

"The plane is extremely fun to fly," Craig said. "I even did a barrel roll in it yesterday."

While the exact cause of the crash is not yet known, Craig said the landing was smooth, however, once the right side collapsed after set down, he could no longer navigate the plane's movement and it left the runway.

Harcrow said the PPD turned the investigation over to Trooper Taylor with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Members of the Federal Aviation Administration out of Fort Worth were expected to be at the airfield to do their own investigation by 3:30 p.m. Monday.

This is the second plane crash in the Palestine area this year.

In March, a Beech 35 airplane crashed just outside of Palestine at Gum Creek Ranch. The airplane was recently purchased by the pilot and was being transported to the pilot's home in the greater Dallas area. The plane took off from Anahuac, with no filed flight plan, and the pilot reported that while en route to Dallas, the engine lost power. The pilot maneuvered the airplane for a forced landing. During the landing, the plane struck trees and came to rest in a grass field on a ranch about four miles southwest of Palestine. The pilot was seriously injured and the passenger died from their injuries in that crash.

The Palestine Municipal Airport, KPSN, is a General Aviation Airport with two runways. Its primary functions are to serve as a fuel farm for aircrafts, provide transient aircraft with fuel and runways for landing and take-off, for flight training and for terminal resting areas.

The primary runway is 5,005 feet long and 100 feet wide. The crosswind runway is 4,002 feet long and 75 feet wide.

The airport has pilot-controlled runway lighting for night landings.

The airport serves approximately 29 local planes and 35 transient planes per month.

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