FedEx Plane Veers Off Texas Runway, Catches Fire

Officials say a FedEx cargo plane landing at a Lubbock, Texas, airport veered off the runway on Jan. 27, crashed and caught fire, but that both crew members walked away from the plane.

Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport director James Loomis says the ATR-42 twin-turboprop aircraft landed just after 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. He says crews extinguished the fire quickly.

The plane landed in a freezing mist, but Loomis says weather was not a factor in the incident.

The crew members were being evaluated at University Medical Center in Lubbock.

The plane was operated by Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based Empire Airways under contract with Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp.