Smoke Reportedly Filled Ravin 500's Cockpit Before The Airplane Went Down

A 70-year-old man and his 54-year-old daughter were fatally injured Saturday when the homebuilt airplane they were flying went down shortly after takeoff from Lone Star Executive Airport in Conroe, TX.

Ravin 500 File Photo

Authorities believe the two people on board the airplane when it went down were Elzie Warren and his daughter, Phyllis Ridings. Autopsies are still being performed for positive identification.

The aircraft is reported to have been a Ravin 500 built by and registered to Loyd Woodward of Girard, TX, according to television station KTRK. Woodward was not thought to be on board at the time of the accident.

Warren and Ridings were flying to Temple, TX, for an airshow. The pilot reported the cockpit filling with smoke and declared an emergency. The two were attempting to return to Lone Star Executive when the plane impacted the ground and exploded. The plane went down in a heavily wooded area, and the Texas Forest Service had to bulldoze a path to the accident scene.

Fox News reports that the two had been involved in a previous incident in which an in-flight engine fire caused by a worn fuel line forced them to make an emergency landing in a Texas hayfield. All three people on board the aircraft walked away from that accident, which involved a different airplane.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov