A shocking scene unfolded as a twin-engine Piper Navajo PA-31-350 plane crashed onto a busy intersection in Victoria, Texas, colliding with three vehicles. The accident, which occurred around 3 p.m. Wednesday, took place near Victoria East High School, just as students were being released—an intersection that was, until this catastrophe, just another part of their daily commute.
Victoria Police Deputy Chief Eline Moya provided details on the aftermath, stating, "four people were taken to hospitals," as reported by KHOU. Three sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while another individual required transportation to an out-of-town hospital for higher-level treatment. Amid the chaos and wreckage, the condition of the pilot, who was also being evaluated, has yet to be disclosed by authorities. This unexpected descent from the sky brought Tony Poynor, a bystander, to reckon with the immediate reality head-on as he noted, "I thought the plane was going to hit me," and his subsequent rush to aid the victims.
Witnesses captured harrowing footage of the aircraft flying perilously low before its final, tragic descent, widely disseminated across social media channels. The KSAT reported that the plane took off from Victoria Regional Airport at 9:52 a.m. on Wednesday. It was last detected nearly five hours later, at around 2:57 p.m., before rapidly losing altitude and meeting its fateful end.
As investigations ensue, authorities are painstakingly working to sieve through the debris and piece together the events leading up to the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Texas Department of Public Safety, and local agencies are all involved, tightly knitting their expertise to pierce the veil of this tragedy. The aircraft, tied to MARC, Inc., a Mississippi-based company, as per the FAA’s online database, has now become the center of a meticulous probe.
For the students of Victoria East High School and the community at large, the intersection of Zac Lentz Parkway and Mockingbird Lane has transformed from a familiar crossway to a site of disruption and investigation. The intersection remains closed, as confirmed by Victoria police, and will stay so for an indeterminate period, creating a pivot in the daily rhythm of drivers and passersby solicited to detour and confronted with the jarring reminder of the day's events.
