Pilot and 2 people on the ground killed after small plane crashes into Florida mobile home park, FAA says
Multiple mobile homes caught fire after the single-engine plane, whose pilot had reported engine failure, crashed in Clearwater, officials said.
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Three people died after a small plane crashed into a Clearwater, Florida, mobile home park and set homes on fire Thursday evening, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.
The victims include the pilot and two people on the ground, according to the FAA.
The crash happened around 7 p.m. and firefighters worked through the night on hot spots to get to the victims.
The plane was mostly in one home, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said.
At least three homes had fire damage, Ehlers said. Aside from the home that was directly struck, the people in the other homes were able to get out, he said.
The pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 had reported an engine failure before the crash, the FAA said.
The plane had departed from Vero Regional Beach Airport Thursday afternoon and was originally scheduled to land at Clearwater Airpark.
Rick Renner, who lives in the neighborhood, said his house shook with the impact of the plane’s crash landing.
“We heard what we thought what was like a motorcycle go by or something. Then a few seconds later it was a loud bang, the windows actually shook, the house shook,” Renner said in an interview that aired Friday on NBC's "TODAY" show.
He ran to the crash site and took video of the fiery scene.
“Even after the fire was out, you really couldn’t even tell there was a plane in there, everything was just gone,” he said.
Renner said the crash is a shock to the community where "everybody is friends," adding, "It’s just weird that something like this happens in your neighborhood."
Helicopter video from NBC affiliate WFLA of Tampa showed a field of debris, including what appeared to be all or part of a home, and firefighters using flashlights at the scene as smoke rose. Firefighters were putting water on one structure with a firehose.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, the FAA said.
The pilot had reported mayday at a nearby airport and then the aircraft went off the radar around 3 miles north of the runway, which is where the mobile home park is, Ehlers said.
Ehlers said he expected more injuries and more damage with a plane crash in a compact residential area.
"We were very fortunate," he told reporters at the scene.
PP