Two On Board Fatally Injured In The Accident

The WWII P-51 Mustang owned by the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame has gone down in the water north of Galveston Island, resulting in the fatal in jury of the two people on board. Reuters reports that Galveston Gal went down Wednesday about noon. FAA spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said that the pilot was not in contact with air traffic control at the time of the accident.

The museum website indicates that the P-51, which had been manufactured in 1944, had been in service with the El Salvadoran Air Force in the 1960s. It had been modified to carry two people while being operated in El Salvador.

The museum offered flight experiences in the P-51 as a fundraiser. A flight was priced at $1,995, according to the website. Those on board were identified as Kith Hibbett, 51, the pilot of the airplane, and John Stephen Busby, a tourist from the U.K. who had made a donation for the privilege of flying in the P-51. Busby was in Galveston with his wife to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary, according to the Galveston County Daily News.

The plane had been painted in the livery of "Galveston Gal", a tribute to the WWII Fighter Group with a connection to a Galveston native. Authorities said it was found in about 8 feet of water in Chocolate Bay north of Galveston Island, an area only accessible by boat.

Museum president Larry Gregory said that Hibbett was a very experienced pilot who had been flying the museum's airplanes for over a decade. "He flies everything we have, (a) former military aviator," Gregory said.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov