FortBendNow.com

Four people survived a plane crash early Saturday afternoon when their aircraft stalled shortly after taking off from Houston Southwest Airport.

According to a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 1982 Piper Warrior took off from the airport at about 12:20 p.m.

“They had an engine stall and began losing altitude,” she said. “The plane crashed into a wooded area, facing west.”

The crash site was near F.M. 521 and State Highway 6, near the airport in the Arcola area.

According to a report by a DPS officer at the scene, the pilot and three passengers all survived the crash and are in “stable condition with minor lacerations.”

A Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman said a life-flight helicopter was ready to respond to the scene but wasn’t required. The DPS spokeswoman said the four injured people – none of whom was identified – were transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

A dispatcher for the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department was told the plane fell from 1,000 feet; however, the Texas DPS was unable to confirm the altitude.

The DPS spokeswoman said the Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation into the crash.

It was the second small-plane crash in Fort Bend County in two months.

A pilot was injured on July 23, when his small plane crashed in a field near Westheimer Air Park, at 24215 F.M. 1093, a few miles east of Fulshear.

Ronald Robertson, 62, of Katy, was in a small single-engine plane flying east at a low altitude when the left wing of his plane touched the ground and the plane crashed, said a spokeswoman for the Texas Highway Patrol.