A pilot who was flying over the area of Clearwater, Florida Thursday witnessed the moment a small plane crashed into a mobile home park.
The crash killed the pilot and two people on the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reported an engine failure shortly before the aircraft went down at about 7 p.m., the FAA reported.
It crashed in the Bayside Waters mobile home park in Clearwater, hitting one home and leaving at least three homes with fire damage, although the flames were quickly doused, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said at a news conference.
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“The aircraft was found in the one structure,” Ehler said.
According to NBC6 affiliate WFLA, who first reported the witness pilot's account, the small plane was going down fast.
“They went down hard. They’re in flames,” the pilot flying over the area said during a Live Air Traffic Control recording. “It looks like there is a structure fire down there. It looks like he went into a building.”
Local
Ehlers said the pilot reported an emergency to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport shortly before the plane went off radar about 3 miles north of a runway.
The airport is about 7 miles southeast of Clearwater.
“I just saw him going down at an extremely high rate of speed. Did not see any flames, just saw the flight going down,” the witness pilot said. “There’s still active flames down there and a lot of smoke coming from it. He is definitely into a house. The whole house is demolished.”
Authorities said federal investigators would examine the scene.
