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A restored P-51D Mustang, built in 1944, in its wartime markings. Image by Adrian Pingstone, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

2 killed in crash of vintage fighter plane in Texas

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

A restored P-51D Mustang, built in 1944, in its wartime markings. Image by Adrian Pingstone, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
A restored P-51D Mustang, built in 1944, in its wartime markings. Image by Adrian Pingstone, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – Two men have died after a vintage fighter plane crashed near Galveston.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says 51-year-old pilot Keith Hibbett of Denton and his 66-year-old passenger John Stephen Busby, who was visiting from the United Kingdom, were killed in the crash Wednesday.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Lehmann says the captain of a charter boat notified authorities after seeing the P-51 Mustang crash in an area between Chocolate Bay and Galveston Bay. He says the plane went down in water some 4 feet deep.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston operated the plane. He says the pilot was not in contact with air traffic controllers when the crash happened.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-10-24-13 0652GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

A restored P-51D Mustang, built in 1944, in its wartime markings. Image by Adrian Pingstone, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
A restored P-51D Mustang, built in 1944, in its wartime markings. Image by Adrian Pingstone, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.