Investigators are trying to determine why a dual-control P-51 Mustang owned by the Lone Star Flight Museum crashed into the water off the coast of Galveston, Texas, last week. The 51-year-old pilot and his 66-year-old passenger, a man from the U.K. who had received the flight as a wedding anniversary gift, both were killed.
The crash happened just before noon last Wednesday. The P-51, named Galveston Gal, was painted to resemble an airplane that flew in World War II with the 359th Fighter Group. Built in 1944, it was converted to a two-seat, dual-control TF-51 while serving with the El Salvadoran air force in the 1960s, according to the Lone Star Flight Museum’s website.
The airplane was used to give people a vintage fighter experience for about $2,000 a flight and had also appeared in a number of airshows.
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