Zavalla (WBAP/KLIF) – A 40 year old pilot was killed early Saturday morning when his small plane crashed as he tried to land on a private runway in East Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety says James VanLue of Tomball was killed in the crash about 2:00 AM, but no one happened upon the scene until 12:30 PM. VanLue was dead when the first would-be rescuers reached him. An investigation is underway into the cause of the crash north of Zavalla.