Plane crash in Texas may have been intentional
Posted Feb 18, 2010 01:07:39 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A small plane crashed into an seven-story building that houses offices of the federal tax agency in Austin, Texas Thursday.
U.S. law enforcement officials say they are investigating whether the crash may have been an intentional act by the pilot.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, said authorities are trying to determine if the pilot intentionally targeted the office space of the Internal Revenue Service.
A federal law enforcement official has identified the pilot in the Austin, Texas, plane crash as Joseph Stack and says investigators are looking at an anti-government message on the Web linked to him.
The website outlines problems with the IRS and says violence “is the only answer.”
As a precaution, the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defence Command launched two F-16 aircraft from Houston’s Ellington Field, and is conducting an air patrol over the crash area.
Assistant Austin Fire Chief Harry Evans says two people have been taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.
Thick black and grey smoke was billowing out of the second and third stories of the building Thursday as fire crews using ladder trucks and hoses battled the fire.
One woman speaking on KLBJ radio in Austin claims to know the man.
“My little niece is his step daughter. He burned their house down last night. My sister had gone over there last night to get them out of the house. They spent the night in a motel so he burned the house down.”
The woman, whose name is not immediately clear says the man’s plane is now missing. She says the incident started as a domestic dispute.
“And then they checked before 10:30 and his plane is gone. His car is at the hangar in Round Rock.”
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