Pilot, John Thomas Steeper, killed in east Texas plane crash WELLS, Texas, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma pilot was killed when his plane crashed near Wells, Texas, during a thunderstorm while on a flight from Houston to Tulsa, Okla., investigators said. The Department of Public Safety said John Thomas Steeper, 64, of Broken Bow lost control of his single-engine Cessna 421 at 24,000 feet over Cherokee County at 9:22 p.m. Monday, The Lufkin (Texas) News reported. Investigators concluded the plane exploded when it hit the ground. Cherokee County officials said they had received calls from witnesses reporting "a bright fireball falling," along with the sound of an airplane engine. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said in a news release air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane as Steeper -- an engineer who often traveled to Texas on business -- tried to navigate through the storm, The Tulsa World reported. The plane is registered to H-S Air LP in Broken Arrow and the public flight-tracking website Flight Aware shows the flight originated in Houston at 8:41 p.m., and was due to arrived in Tulsa about 2 hours later, the World reported.