Two dead as museum's rare World War II-era plane crashes in Texas

A piece of history was lost yesterday in Texas. It was a museum piece that could still fly. And it had a long and distinguished military service record. Dubbed the "Galveston Gal," it was manufactured in 1944 and converted to a two-seat, dual control TF-51 while serving in the El Salvadoran Air Force in the 1960s, according to the Texas museum's website.

But this P-51 Mustang airplane owned by Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston was not meant to just sit in a showroom. It was born for the air. And that’s where it was Wednesday when it crashed in shallow water near Galveston, killing the two people on board, according to media reports citing the U.S. Coast Guard....