A single-engine plane crashes near a Pennsylvania airport and all five aboard are taken to hospitals
All five passengers were transported to local hospitals. No one on the ground was injured.
A single-engine airplane with five people on board crashed and burst into flames in the parking lot of a retirement community near a small airport in suburban Pennsylvania, officials and witnesses said.
All five passengers were transported to Lancaster-area hospitals, local officials said, and no one on the ground was injured.
The fiery crash happened around 3 p.m. just south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, according to police.
The plane crashed near the parking lot of Brethren Village, a retirement community in Lititz, according to Lancaster Online.
Brian Pipkin was driving nearby when he noticed the plane climbing before it suddenly veered to the left.
“And then it went down nose first,” he told the Associated Press. “There was an immediate fireball.”
Pipkin called 911 and then drove to the crash site, where he recorded video of black smoke billowing from the plane’s mangled wreckage and multiple cars engulfed in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village. He said the plane narrowly missed hitting a three-story building at the sprawling retirement community about 75 miles west of Philadelphia.
A fire truck from the airport arrived within moments, and more first responders followed quickly.
“It was so smoky and it was so hot,” Pipkin said. “They were really struggling to get the fire out.”
Five vehicles on the ground were engulfed, but no buildings were damaged, Manheim Township Fire Chief Scott R. Little said at an evening news conference. Brethren Village residents were ordered to temporarily shelter in place as a precaution.
By 6 p.m., authorities declared the incident under control.
“We are very confident that all safety concerns have been addressed,” said Manheim Township Police Chief Duane Fisher.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed there were five people aboard the Beechcraft Bonanza.
Air traffic control audio captured someone on the plane reporting that an aircraft door was open and requesting a landing at the airport. An air traffic controller is heard clearing the plane to land, before saying, “Pull up!” Moments later, someone can be heard saying the aircraft was down.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were heading to the scene on Sunday, local officials said.
The crash comes about a month after seven people were killed when an air ambulance burst into flames after crashing onto a busy Philadelphia street.
Staff writer Erin McCarthy contributed to this article.