LAJITAS, Texas -- A plane flying a group home from a Mexican horseback riding trip hit a power line and crashed during takeoff Sunday in West Texas, killing two people and injuring eight others.
The twin-engine MU-2 aircraft hit the power line as it lifted off the runway at an airstrip in Lajitas at 4:15 p.m., Constable Billy Pat McKinney said.
Killed were Barbara Mack, 38, of Spring, Texas, near Houston, and Rockwood Shaffer of Tulsa, Okla. Eight other people, all from Harris County, Texas, escaped.
Edward Mack, 42, of Spring and Richard Kauth, 45, of Houston, both were reported in stable condition today at Big Bend Memorial Hospital in Alpine.
Six others, all from Houston, were listed in good condition: Edward A. Moore, 31; Diane Moore, 30; Tracy Hassenmiler, 21; Steve Hassenmiler, 24; Mary Frances Kauth, 38; and Bruce Molloy, 33.
An emergency medical techician said survivors and other witneses tried to pull the two bodies from the plane but were driven back by flames.
