Pilot and two people on ground killed as plane crashes into mobile home
2 February 2024, 14:44
The crash happened at a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida.
A small plane crashed at a Florida mobile home park on Thursday, killing the pilot and two people on the ground, fire officials said.
The pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reported an engine failure shortly before the aircraft went down at about 7pm, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported.
The plane 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.
The FAA was not immediately able to say how many people were on the plane. Firefighters also could not tell how many people were inside the double-wide mobile home where the plane ultimately crash-landed, sending the structure up in flames.
It was later confirmed that there were three dead: the pilot and two people in the motor home.
“The aircraft was found in the one structure,” Mr Ehler said.
Mr Ehlers said the pilot reported an emergency to St Pete–Clearwater International Airport shortly before the plane went off radar about three miles north of a runway.
The airport is about seven miles south east of Clearwater.
Federal investigators would examine the scene, authorities said.
