One person killed in plane crash outside Lancaster
A Piper PA-46 crashed into a field north of the airport shortly after taking off around 8 a.m., according to the FAA. The pilot was the airplane’s only passenger, the agency said.
One person is dead after a plane crash near Lancaster Airport Sunday morning.
A Piper PA-46 crashed into a field in Warwick Township just north of the airport shortly after takeoff around 8 a.m., according to the FAA. No further details have been released.
One passenger — a male pilot — was killed in the crash, according to Sgt. Adam Webber of the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department. The man’s identify has not been made public.
The pilot was the airplane’s only passenger when it crashed, according to the FAA. There were no reports of any other injuries, Webber told reporters.
David Welden, who lives near Lancaster Airport, told local NBC affiliate WGAL he was on his porch reading the newspaper when he heard the plane go down. He said he drove down to the crash site to offer his assistance, but was shocked to come across the pilot’s body.
“It’s a horrific thing to witness,” Welden told WGAL.
At this point, there’s no indication what caused the plane to go down. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The airport, which has operated since 1933, is located about six miles north of Lancaster in Lititz. Two smaller commercial airlines offer flights out of Lancaster Airport — Breeze Airways (to Orlando) and Southern Airways Express (to Pittsburgh and Washington-Dulles).
Five were injured in a fiery crash in March
Back in March, five passengers traveling in a single-engine Beechcraft A36TC airplane were injured when the aircraft crashed near the parking lot of Brethren Village, a retirement community in Lititz.
“There was an immediate fireball,” a witness who filmed the wreckage told the Associated Press at the time. He said the plane narrowly missed striking a three-story building in the retirement community.
All five passengers survived the crash, which the FAA said took place shortly after takeoff. There were no injuries on the ground, but about a dozen cars were damaged, according to Manheim Township Police Chief Duane Fisher.
On Thursday, a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the airport due to a landing gear malfunction, according to the FAA. There were no injuries, and the agency is currently investigating the incident.