27-year-old North Texas woman killed in Cooke County plane crash; student copilot injured
A 27-year-old woman from Granbury died Tuesday night in a plane crash in Gainesville, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Bailey Elaine Maldonado died when the single-engine plane, a Cessna Skyhawk owned by Wings Over Texas Holdings, crashed at 926 County Road 404 in Cooke County around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, according to DPS.
Maldonado was the pilot on the instructional flight, according to the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office. Her student co-pilot, 26-year-old James Donald Watts, of Springfield, Oregon, was taken by helicopter to Medical City Denton hospital with serious injuries, according to the DPS report.
The plane took off from Denton Enterprise Airport and was en route to Gainesville Municipal Airport, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights. The aircraft took off around 7:48 p.m. and was heading south when it crashed, according to DPS and FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.
🚨 More top stories from our newsroom:
→ Anthony Johnson’s family vows to pursue justice in jail homicide
→ Landmark Fort Worth restaurant in Near Southside moving after 32 years
→ Woman shot after threatening North Richland Hills officer with knife
[Get our breaking news alerts.]
