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Plane crash kills 1 near Terrell

Federal Aviation Administration

One person is dead in a plane crash near an airport east of Dallas.   
Lt. Justin Lewis of the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office says the crash was reported at about 4:25 p.m. Monday southwest of Terrell Municipal Airport. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Kyle Bradford confirms a death in a plane crash Monday afternoon near Terrell.
    
Bradford says the plane went up in flames and the person reported dead could not be immediately identified.
    
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says he doesn't have any information yet on the type or size of the plane.

Lunsford said that it remains unknown whether the pilot was the only person on board the aircraft.

Serial numbers by the FAA link aircraft to owners and maintenance records, but because the plane in Monday's crash was completely destroyed, the aircraft's FAA serial number, if issued, also remains unknown, he said.

Lacking that information, authorities usually are able to deduce information about the flight from reports of missing people or aircraft, he said. It remains unknown where the plane took off or where it was going, he said.

Because the crash was fatal, the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct the investigation, Lunsford said.

Lunsford said a "preliminary witness report" described the plane doing aerobatics in the area shortly before the crash.

The plane went down in a field around the 2600 block of Farm-to-Market Road 2578, and county fire marshal Larry Ewing said he believes the pilot was the only person involved, the Dallas Morning News reported.  The crash caused a fire, which is now out, the Morning News said.

Mark Haslett has served at KETR since 2013. Since then, the station's news operation has enjoyed an increase in listener engagement and audience metrics, as well recognition in the Texas AP Broadcasters awards.