A small plane crashed into a seven-storey office building in Austin, Texas, on Thursday morning. The building is located on a major highway in the city and houses offices of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Thick black and grey smoke was billowing out of the second and third stories of the building, as fire crews using ladder trucks and hoses battled the fire.
Authorities are pursuing reports that the pilot may have been disgruntled with the IRS and intentionally targeted its nearby office space. There are also reports that the pilot stole the plane after setting his house on fire.
As a precaution, the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defence Command launched two F-16 aircraft from Houston's Ellington Field, and is conducting an air patrol over the crash area. Investigators are still responding to the scene.
