CLEARWATER — A pilot and two people on the ground were killed after a small plane that took off from Vero Beach crashed into a mobile home unit late Thursday, aviation and fire rescue crews said. The Beechcraft Bonanza V35 aircraft experienced an engine failure before the wreck in Clearwater, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Clearwater police said they will provide an update on the victims’ names once positive identification has been made and relatives notified.
“As many as nine people had been inside the mobile home on Pagoda Drive shortly before the plane crash, but all but two had left the residence,” police said. “Identification of those victims, along with cause of death, will be up to the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office.”
The crash occurred at Bayside Waters, a large manufactured home community for tenants 55-plus, located south of Clearwater Mall. The impact caused several mobile homes to catch fire, prompting a large response from firefighters in multiple jurisdictions, said Scott Ehlers, fire chief with Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department.
“There was a report of an aircraft having an emergency at the airport. The tower was able to get a radio transmission from the pilot that he was having a ‘Mayday.’ The aircraft went off radar about three miles north of the runway,” Ehlers said during a news conference late Thursday. “We arrived on scene and found four trailers heavily involved. We quickly extinguished (the units) and identified there was an aircraft in one of them.”
The unnamed pilot was the only person aboard the plane, FAA officials said. Authorities were working to identify the people who died from the crash.
Clearwater police said they will remain at the scene into Saturday, when the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to remove the wreckage.
The single-engine plane – owned by Control Data Inc. – took off from the Vero Beach Regional Airport about 6:08 p.m., according to Flight Aware. The aircraft crashed into the residential area about 7 p.m. at Bayside Waters, aviation and fire rescue crews said.
Three mobile home units had fire damage, while a fourth had possible fire damage, Ehlers said.
The plane had reached an altitude of 6,000 feet, traveling 198 mph before it descended, Flight Aware data shows. The aircraft traveled 169 miles, officials said.
Ehlers said first responders and investigators were working through a very complicated scene. Around the time of the crash, there was no rain throughout the day in the area and the skies were clear, said Tony Hurt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
“The temperature was 56 degrees with 70 percent humidity, and there were light westerly winds,” Hurt said. “There were no clouds.”
The NTSB is leading the investigation. FAA officials are also investigating the circumstances surrounding the wreck.
A NTSB investigator will examine the aircraft before it is moved to a secure facility for further evaluation, officials said. Investigators will inspect flight data, recordings of air traffic control communications, weather conditions, surveillance footage and witness statements.
A preliminary crash report will be available within 30 days, NTSB officials said.
“Our thoughts are with the three victims and their families; this tragedy could have been even worse,” Clearwater Police Chief Eric Gandy said in a statement.
