MIDLAND A Midland father and son died Thursday night after a crash at Midland International Airport.
John M. Cooper, 39, and son Gavyn Cooper, 16, died around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, after the single-engine aircraft they were in crashed shortly after takeoff, according to a release from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Both were pronounced dead on the scene, the release states.
The release details that John Cooper piloted the 2007 Cirrus SR22, which took off and was traveling north before the crash.
No others were on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Gavyn Cooper was a student at Midland High. John Cooper was well into a successful year as a horse trainer after success in the energy business, a release from Ruidoso Downs Race Track in New Mexico stated.
One of John Cooper’s trained horses qualified for the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity last Saturday, and Gavyn Cooper was a quarterback on the Midland High football team, the release stated.
The two are survived by Chassity Cooper, John’s wife and Gavyn’s mother, and Callie Cooper, John’s daughter and Gavyn’s sister.
