Three dead when small plane crashes into mobile home park in Florida

Miami – Three people died when a small plane crashed on Thursday night into a mobile home park in Cleawater, on the west coast of Florida, several of which caught fire after the impact, local media reported this Friday.

The pilot of the plane, a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanaza V5, reported engine failure before crashing into the Bayside Waters Mobiele Home Park around 7:15 p.m. local time (00:15 GMT).

In the plane crash, which affected four mobile homes, the pilot and two people who were in one of the houses died, local channel Fox13 reported today.

The Fire Chief of the city of Clearwater, Scott Ehlers, reported last night on social media that there were several deaths, “both the pilot of the plane and people who were in the mobile home,” and that several mobile homes caught fire after the impact.

The pilot, the fire chief detailed, had reported when taking off from a nearby airport that the plane was experiencing an emergency and then went off the radar, about 3 miles from the runway (5 kilometers) to the north.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed to the media that the small plane crashed in the residential area after the pilot reported engine failure.

According to Ehlers, firefighters arrived at the scene seven minutes after the accident, which minimized damage and likely saved lives.