A woman texted her husband 'taking off, I love you' before a plane crash that left her with such a severe brain injury, doctors have said she'd be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life.

Lauren Chase had been on her way to visit relatives with her in-laws on Christmas Eve 2015 when the plane developed a fault and crash landed in a front garden. 

Mrs Chase, 32,  was being flown by her father-in-law - an experienced pilot who has been flying for more than 30 years - when the cowling which covers the engine popped open and the plane 'fell out of the sky'. No one else was seriously hurt in the accident.

Now her husband David, 31, has spoken for the first time about the tragic incident

'I knew the moment I met her that she was the woman I was going to marry': Lauren Chase and her husband David, pictured on their wedding day in June 2010, have been a couple for 12 years

Mrs Chase from Mississippi was travelling to Key Largo, Florida to visit relatives with her husband's family in the plane piloted by Dr David Chase, 63. 

Shortly after take-off Dr Chase realized the cowling had popped open. As he turned back to land at Roscoe Turner Airport in Mississippi, the cowling came unhinged and the plane crashed