LANCASTER, Pa. — 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.
The fiery crash happened around 3 p.m. just south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, according to police, who could not immediately provide information on fatalities or injuries.
According to FlightAware, the plane was headed from Lancaster Airport to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Ohio.
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 (120 km) 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.”
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 said it will investigate.
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.
