Plane Crash in Austin

Written by Kylie London Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:15

On February 18, a plane crashed into a federal office building in Austin, Texas.

Joseph Stack purposefully flew his small plane into the IRS building after ranting about it online, two days before. Stack’s body was not found, but police presumed him dead.

“I knew Joe had a hang-up with the I.R.S. on account of them breaking him, taking his savings away,” Stack’s father-in-law said. “And that’s undoubtedly the reason he flew the airplane against that building. Not to kill people, but just to damage the I.R.S.”

However, thirteen people were injured, two were killed, and one was reported missing.

One worker, Peggy Walker said that it felt like bombs went off.

"The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran,” Walker said.

Firefighters had to work all afternoon to put out the fire that the deadly crash caused.

The night before the plane crash, Stack’s wife had taken her daughter to a hotel because she was scared of Joseph’s “increasingly frightening anger.” The next morning, she returned to their house to find it on fire, and her husband gone. They later heard the reports of his plane crashing into the IRS building.

Because of the crash, a nationwide fear of terrorist attacks occurred, but police say there is no reason to believe that Stack was in connection with any terrorist groups. He was just a man with a grudge.