2 Critically Injured After Training Plane Strikes Power Lines Near Corpus Christi Airport

Both occupants—an instructor and a student pilot—were taken to local hospitals with life-threatening injuries.

Published: 4/14/2026, 10:05:08 PM EDT

2 Critically Injured After Training Plane Strikes Power Lines Near Corpus Christi Airport — The Corpus Christi International Airport in Corpus Christi, Texas, in February 2023. (Google Maps/Screenshot via NTD)

Two people were critically injured Monday evening when a small training plane struck power lines and crashed just short of Corpus Christi International Airport.

The accident occurred around 7:25 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement.

Splendid Aviation, the flight training company, said that the single-engine plane hit power lines while on approach to the airport.

Both occupants—an instructor and a student pilot—were taken to local hospitals with life-threatening injuries. Splendid Aviation said on Tuesday that the pair were later transferred to San Antonio for specialized medical treatment.

“This evening, one of our training aircraft was involved in an incident near Corpus Christi International Airport (KCRP),” Splendid Aviation wrote in a post on Facebook. “While on approach, the aircraft came into contact with power lines. The instructor and student on board were taken to local hospitals, and our thoughts are with them as they receive care.”

The company have asked the public to keep “them and their families in your thoughts and prayers during this time.”

The aircraft involved was identified as a Piper PA-28, the FAA said. The FAA confirmed that two people were aboard and that the agency will investigate the crash.

Splendid Aviation said it is cooperating fully with both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board as investigators work to determine the cause. Officials declined to speculate on what may have led to the impact.

“We’re fully cooperating with the FAA and NTSB as they look into what happened. Out of respect for that process, we won’t be speculating on the cause at this time,” the company stated. “We’ll share more information as we’re able.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will take the lead in the investigation, while the FAA will assist in examining what happened during the flight’s approach phase, per FAA protocol.

The accident follows several small-plane incidents that have been reported across the country in recent days. In Bronson, Florida, two people were killed on Monday afternoon when a vintage World War II–era North American T-6 Texan crashed in a field. The Federal Aviation Administration identified that plane as a single-engine military trainer that served for decades after the war.

The Florida accident followed other recent crash landings, including a Republic RC-3 water plane that made an emergency landing on a Phoenix street on Sunday, April 12, narrowly avoiding power lines. All three people aboard escaped injury, according to Phoenix Fire Department officials.