Surveillance video captures moments before plane crash kills 3

SAN ANTONIO – Moments before a small plane crash killed three people on the North Side were caught on a surveillance camera from a nearby business.

Officials identified two of three victims involved — Robert Womble, 38, and Eric Naranjo, 22, who was a student at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The 71-year-old female victim has not been identified.

Their deaths came after the pilot reported to air traffic control that there was an engine failure.

What we know about the deadly plane crash in San Antonio

Employees at a business across the street say they were shocked to find the plane crash had been captured on their surveillance cameras.

The plane was seen as a bright light shooting down to the ground into a cloud of smoke in the surveillance video.

“At first, I thought they were trying to make it to the airport, trying to make a crash landing on the street, but you can just observe on this footage that it came straight down, just complete nosedive,” said Leo Chavez, manager of D&S Garage and Diesel Service.

Chavez works less than a block from where the plane crashed onto the sidewalk and street. He said he arrived to work Monday morning and immediately checked the surveillance footage.

Chavez said he’s still shaken up thinking about the people who were killed, but he’s thankful no one on the ground was hurt.

“We just feel very fortunate that during that tragedy, nobody was in the way,” he said.

Chavez alerted police at the scene that he had the video. He said he hopes it will help the agencies investigating the crash.

The road where the crash happened will be closed until Tuesday when investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive.


About the Author:

Courtney Friedman anchors KSAT’s weekend evening shows and reports during the week. Her ongoing Loving in Fear series confronts Bexar County’s domestic violence epidemic. She joined KSAT in 2014 and is proud to call the SA and South Texas community home. She came to San Antonio from KYTX CBS 19 in Tyler, where she also anchored & reported.