87-year-old Arizona man dies after crashing single-engine plane into Texas strip mall
Nov 24, 2023, 12:26 PM | Updated: 1:40 pm

Elzie Monroe McDonald, 87, of Arizona was killed when his single engine plane crashed in Plano, Texas, Nov. 21, 2023. (Facebook)
(Facebook)
PHOENIX — A pilot from Arizona who died when the small plane he was flying crashed and burned on the doorstep of a strip mall in Texas was aborting a landing, according to an incident report released Wednesday.
Plano, Texas, police on Wednesday identified the pilot of the single-engine Mooney M20 as 87-year-old Elzie Monroe McDonald, of Arizona. McDonald was the only person on board when the plane crashed Tuesday.
UPDATE: Texas Department of Public Safety identified pilot, Elzie M. McDonald, from Arizona, was killed in the crash. McDonald was just days away from celebrating his 88th birthday. The investigation is being led by the @NTSB https://t.co/okeY0yQ4I4
— Plano Police (Texas) (@PlanoPoliceDept) November 22, 2023
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash. But a Federal Aviation Administration incident report says McDonald was pulling out of a landing before crashing.
Photos from the scene showed the wreckage in a parking space next to a nail salon and diner just outside of the shopping center in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
The crash caused a parked car to catch fire. No one was inside the vehicle, and no bystanders were injured, authorities said.
According to a Nov. 18 article in The Wickenberg Sun, McDonald was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 883 in Aguila.
He received a Wright Brothers Master Pilot award from the FAA in February 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.