Crashed WW II plane was part of museum event

TEXAS: The director of a museum says that a vintage World War II fighter plane that crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, Texas, had performed during a flyover as part of a living history show for the museum.

Rorie Cartier, director of the National Museum of the Pacific War, tells The Associated Press in an email that the privately-owned P-51D Mustang fighter was returning to the Gillespie County Airport in Fredericksburg when it crashed, killing the pilot and a passenger.

He says the names of those killed are being withheld pending notification of family.

Cartier added: "We express our deepest condolences to the families of both on board."

Two people were killed when a vintage World War II fighter plane crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, Texas Saturday, a state police spokesman said.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Orlando Moreno said the two people were on board the plane. He did not identify the dead.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the aircraft was destroyed and several automobiles damaged.

The World War II P-51D Mustang fighter crashed at about 3:15 p.m. Saturday. Photos from the crash site showed pieces of the plane on top of parked vehicles.

The Mustang was first built by North American Aviation in 1940 and was used by the U.S. military in World War II and the Korean War.

Fredericksburg is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. The museum said on Twitter that one of those in the plane who was killed was a veteran. It was not immediately clear if those killed, or the plane were associated with the museum, which has a collection of World War II equipment and memorabilia

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA said they would investigate at the site, which is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of San Antonio.