[NVG]

May 28, 2010
a small airplane crashed near a private airport in Hood County.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the pilot crashed into a tree.

The plane was traveling into town for a graduation. The trip turned deadly when the experimental plane crashed near Granbury. The plane went down around 12:30 in the Pecan Planation subdivision short of the Pecan Planation Airport runway.
The Department of Public Safety said 49-year-old Michael Henney of Parker, Colorado was the pilot. He died from his injuries. His 47-year-old wife Suzanne, in the passenger seat, is listed as the owner of the plane. She is listed in serious condition at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.
Residents in the tight knit Pecan Plantation Subdivision said the Henneys were in town for their nephew's graduation. Nicholas Henney graduated with honors this night from Granbury High School.
The RV-6 is a home built model with two seats, a single engine, and fixed wings. Professional pilots in the subdivision said they believed the plane stalled during the attempted landing. Residents said the plane careened over the golf course, tipping to one side before crashing into a tree a few yards from a corner house. The owner wasn't home at the time.
Nancy Brownlee, who lives a few doors down, said she and her husband heard the crash from inside their house. "We heard a thump. It sounded like a crash," Brownlee said. "Just a boom. I thought it was the tree trimmers," her husband Bob said.