UPDATE: The Federal Aviation Authority confirms the pilot and two people were killed.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Several people have died after a small plane crashed into a mobile home in Clearwater, Fla., on Thursday, the local fire department said.
At about 7:08 p.m. ET, authorities received simultaneous calls about a structure fire and a "mayday" signal from the pilot of an aircraft that went off radar about three miles from the runway of the St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department Chief Scott Ehlers said.
Responders arrived at the scene at 7:15 p.m. Four mobile homes, including one the plane crashed into, were on fire at the Bayside Waters mobile home park, Ehlers said.
Chief Ehlers updates the media and confirms there are multiple fatalities from the plane crash this evening. pic.twitter.com/ujxzx7Io9g
— Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department (@clearwaterfire) February 2, 2024
"I can confirm that we have several fatalities, both from the aircraft and within the mobile home," Ehlers said. He added that people in the other three homes got out safely.
Several news outlets cited the Federal Aviation Administration in identifying the airplane as a Beechcraft Bonanza V35, a small single-engine model.
Ehlers said the local fire and rescue department is working with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to identify the pilot and passengers aboard the plane.
"Please understand that we're working through a very complicated scene," he said. "There's going to be a lot of agencies that are here... to help coordinate in the investigation of actually what happened, so we're limited on some of the information we can provide, but we'll do our best to get you the right, updated information."
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
