Texas Briefly

Small plane crashes into homes’ backyards, no injuries

HOUSTON (AP) — No injuries were reported after a small plane crashed into the backyards of several Houston homes shortly after it had taken off Friday afternoon, according to authorities.

The plane had taken off from Houston’s Hobby Airport at 2:17 p.m. when it went down about a minute later, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website.

As the plane made an emergency landing about five miles from the airport in southeast Houston, it knocked down a fence and skidded through a field at a high school campus before crashing through the backyard fences of several homes.

Four people were on board the plane but none appeared to be injured, according to the Houston Fire Department.

A gazebo at one of the homes caught on fire, but the blaze was quickly extinguished, the fire department said.

What caused the plane to crash shortly after takeoff was not immediately known.