By Jamiel Lynch, Amanda Jackson and Aya Elamroussi, CNN
An initial report released Friday morning shows three more people were killed Thursday night in a violent crash when a small aircraft crashed into a mobile housing park in Clearwater, Florida.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s report lists three fatalities, one among the flight crew and two people inside the home. The crash happened at 7:27 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The FAA notes that “the plane crashed in unknown cases in a cell house park” and reports that there was a “post-crash fire. “
The plane’s only occupant was the pilot, the FAA said.
At least nine other people were inside the mobile home Thursday night, but only two remained at the time of the crash, Clearwater Fire and Rescue Service said in a news release.
Firefighters responded to the crash at Bayside Waters Mobile Home Park, Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said at a news conference Thursday. They found four caravans on fire, one of which contained the crashed plane inside, Ehlers said.
The aircraft was found “primarily” in a mobile home, the fire’s leader said Thursday. Crews were still trying to control hot spots and get to the bodies of the deceased, Ehlers added.
“Our minds are with the three affected and their families; this tragedy may have been even worse,” said Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy.
Clearwater resident Steven Ascari told CNN he heard what sounded like an explosion rocking his home Thursday night.
“And next thing you know, a giant pillar of smoke was seen,” he said in a message.
While the government was getting a call about a chimney in the cell house park, a report at the same time said a plane was in an emergency situation at an airport, Ehlers said Thursday. The plane eventually disappeared from radar about 3 miles north of a runway. in the same location as the cell house park.
The plane, a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35, crashed into the residential after the pilot reported engine failure, an FAA spokesperson told CNN. The plane had taken off the previous Thursday from Vero Beach, authorities said.
Audio from LiveATC. net recorded the pilot saying a while before the crash, “I’m wasting the engine. “
Unidentified pilots are then heard in air traffic communications transmissions saying, “You just hit the ground very violently with the plane” and “You’re on fire. “Another is heard saying, “It looks like they broke into a house. »
The National Transportation Safety Board said an investigator who arrived Friday morning would document the scene and read up on the aircraft before it was taken to “a secure facility for further evaluation. “
“During the on-site investigation phase, the NTSB is investigating or speculating about the cause of the accident,” the company said in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board plans to remove the wreckage on Saturday and police will remain at the scene, Clearwater fire officials said.
Burned-out cellphones were evacuated and there were no casualties, the blaze’s leader said Thursday night.
Clearwater, home to more than 110,000 residents, is about 23 miles west of Tampa on Florida’s west-central coast.
The-CNN-Wire™ and © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc. , a Warner Bros. company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Leah Thomeer, Cara Lynn Clarkson, Sara Smart and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.
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