Texas Plane Crash: 2 Louisiana Couples Killed After Small Aircraft Goes Down Near Hilltop Lakes Airport

A small plane crashed near Hilltop Lakes in Leon County, Texas, on Sunday morning, killing all four onboard.

The Piper PA-46 aircraft was on its way to the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana from Horseshoe Bay Resort Airport in Texas when it began experiencing engine problems. The 1984 single-engine plane, which was registered out of Lafayette, crashed in an open field near the stables while attempting to make an emergency landing at the Hilltop Lakes Airport.

Right before the crash, the pilot of the plane reportedly contacted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) saying the aircraft was facing engine issues, KBTX reported.

Meanwhile, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, Sgt. Erik Burse, told KLFY that two couples from Louisiana were killed in the crash. He identified one couple as Kenneth Hix and Missy Lynn Hix, both 59, and the other as 59-year-old Phillip Ackal and 58-year-old Pauline Ackal.

Speaking to KBTX, Justin DeLeon, a witness, said the aircraft was flying very low and the motor suddenly stopped turning when the pilot attempted to pull it up.

"He got over the putt-putt area across from the stables. He banked left almost overcorrected and then banked right again and then he banked left one last time and when he did that second bank to the left he pretty much nose-dived straight vertical into the ground," he told the television station.

No structures were damaged in the crash. The crash was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA.

NTSB said in a tweet that they were investigating the plane crash but were not traveling to the scene.

In a similar incident in Kokomo, Ind., on Sunday morning, three people died after a plane crashed in a field near Glendale Municipal Airport. The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-32, reportedly crashed after striking a utility pole. Three out of the four people on board died in the crash. The condition of the survivor was not known.

Recalling the incident, Tracy Boles, a witness, told Kokomo Tribune, "I was in my living room, and I have a huge window. Out of my front window, I can see the airstrip, my driveway and the corn field that it crashed in... It literally rocked my house. It was like an explosion that went off... And I jumped up and went outside. At that time... the fuel that was burning was already smoldering out of the field."

The crash was being investigated.