Katy, Texas: Planes Collide Over Interstate

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Canoe

Monday, November 27, 2000

Planes collide over interstate

KATY, Texas (AP) -- The pilot of a small plane was killed when his aircraft collided with another plane and then crashed on an interstate highway, authorities said.

Don Lee, 36, of Katy was killed in the crash. He was flying a Cessna single-engine plane that collided with a Cessna 172 four-seater about 30 miles west of Houston at around 5:10 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

The Cessna circled and then crashed into Interstate 10, said Texas Department of Safety spokesman Tom Vinger.

The doomed plane fell within five feet of motorist Michael Whitaker's small pickup.

"It hit; it wasn't loud. As it hit, I came to a stop," said Whitaker, 18. "Thank God I'm alive."

The pilot of the second plane, which was badly damaged, regained control and landed at West Houston Airport.

The man and woman aboard the second Cessna were uninjured, airport manager Woody Lesikar said. Their identities were not immediately available.

"About a third of the right wing was cut off and hanging down," Lesikar was quoted by the Houston Chronicle Monday. "The right landing gear was also substantially damaged. I don't know how they were able to make it here."

Part of the highway was closed temporarily while crews cleared wreckage from the downed plane Sunday evening, Vinger said.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 27, 2000


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