Military pilots injured as plane crashes into Texas neighbourhood

Two pilots were taken to local hospitals after ejecting from the aircraft but no one on the ground was injured

Two Navy pilots were injured after ejecting as their plane crashed in the North Texas neighbourhood of Lake Worth (Glen E. Ellman/FWFD)

A military plane crashed into a residential North Texas neighbourhood on Sunday, injuring the two pilots who were ejected from the aircraft and damaging homes but leaving residents unscathed.

The aircraft was a training jet that went down in Lake Worth – a Dallas/Fort Worth suburb – shortly before 11am, said Lake Worth Police Chief JT Manoushagian.

One of the pilots’ parachutes became tangled in a power line while the other was located elsewhere in the neighborhood, he said. The pilots’ names were not released but they have been hospitalised, one in serious condition and one in critical condition.

Police said at a Sunday news conference the crash happened in an area the military has identified previously as a potential accident zone. The accident happened about seven miles northwest of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base.

Neighbour Kaitlyn Deramus told NBC 5 that she saw the pilots eject and ran to help other residents.

“I knew there are old ladies in that house that it happened at and I was banging on their door but they wouldn’t come out because they thought it was just a car, so I grabbed them out,” said Ms Deramus.

“The house behind that, I ran over to the next street and got that lady out of that house because she’s paralyzed and she needed to get out.”

“I’m having anxiety, but all I wanted to do was save those old ladies because I’ve known them since I was really, really, little,” Ms Deramus added. “They’re OK physically.”