Lakeway man killed in small plane crash near Spicewood Airport
SPICEWOOD, Texas - A man was killed in a small plane crash near the Spicewood Airport on Monday.
Officials said around 6:30 p.m., on Monday, April 22, a single-engine plane crashed on the east side of Spicewood Airport. The small general aviation runway is part of a gated residential neighborhood that’s located along the Colorado River.
Word that a local pilot was killed was still getting around Tuesday in the Hill Country community.
"I know it's going to hurt a lot of people for sure. Rudy, I don't know what else to say. I'm just sorry that it took place," said Spicewood resident Mike Kelly.
MORE: Small plane crash at Spicewood Airport; 1 dead
An image provided to FOX 7 is of the wooded area where the small single-engine plane went down. Rescue teams from Spicewood and Pedernales responded to the crash. Burnet County ESD 9 Fire Chief Lark Camacho told FOX 7 the pilot was practicing what is known as Touch and Gos.
"There were no weather problems as far as what we saw that could have made this happen," said Chief Camacho.
Investigators with the FAA and NTSB were called in to determine the cause of the crash.
On Tuesday afternoon, DPS identified the pilot as 74-year-old Wesley Perkins of Lakeway. He was a member of the Spicewood Airport board of directors. He recently retired from Lake Travis ISD where he managed construction projects. Before working at LTISD, Perkins worked at Round Rock ISD.
The plane Perkins was flying, according to federal officials, was a Lancair Legacy FG. He was the only person on board.
"It breaks my heart. It really breaks my heart because, I can't imagine losing any of those fellas," said Suzy Johnson.
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Johnson works at a popular Spicewood restaurant and lives near the airport.
"They're wonderful men. They come in all the time," said Johnson.
With rescue no longer possible, the focus quickly shifted to fire containment. There are several homes near the airport and the plane’s aviation fuel ignited on impact.
"And that is the next concern, is how much of that brush can catch on fire. And continue to be a wildland fire, if possible. I think the response time helped that we were able to get there. We're talking about five miles from here. But getting the engine there in time and two great responders that were on that fire engine. One was able to start the pump, get the water going. The other firefighter was able to get into the woods with the hose and mitigate the fire within minutes," said Chief Camacho.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to provide a preliminary report in 30 days.
