A small plane carrying five people crashed and burst into flames in a car park at a retirement home in Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon. Air traffic control audio captured the pilot reporting that the aircraft “has an open door, we need to return for a landing” before the incident.
An air traffic controller can be heard clearing the plane to land, before saying “pull up “. Moments later, someone can be heard saying the aircraft was “down just behind the terminal in the parking lot street area”. All five travelling on board the Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft were taken to hospitals in an unknown condition, and nobody on the ground was hurt, the police said. The crash happened at around 3pm local time, just south of Lancaster Airport, with a dozen cars damaged in the incident.
One eyewitness who rushed to the scene described seeing an “immediate fireball”.
Brian Pipkin was driving nearby when he noticed the single-engine plane climbing before it suddenly veered to the left. He said: “And then it went down nose first. There was an immediate fireball.”
He then called 911 and drove to the crash site.
He said the plane narrowly missed hitting a three-story building at the retirement community, 75 miles west of Philadelphia.
A fire engine arrived within minutes, followed by more emergency services.
Mr Pipkin said: “It was so smoky and it was so hot. They were really struggling to get the fire out.”
Residents at the retirement home were briefly asked to shelter in place as a precaution, police chief Duane Fisher said.
He added: “I don’t know if I’d consider it a miracle, but the fact that we have a plane crash where everybody survives and nobody on the ground is hurt is a wonderful thing.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate the incident.
The aircraft’s planned flight and destination were not released soon after the crash.