Small plane crashes into home near Florida airport; three dead

Three people were killed when a small
plane crashed into a house Friday
afternoon while trying to land at a central
Florida airport, the Florida Highway Patrol
said.
The 1957 Beechcraft H35 Bonanza was
heading from Fort Pierce to Knoxville,
Tennessee, when it began experiencing
mechanical problems, FHP Lt. Justin
Asbury said. The pilot told controllers that
the engine was shaky and there was
smoke coming from the plane. The plane
was also entering bad weather.
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said the
plane hit a Palm Coast home just east of
the Flagler County Airport around 2:20
p.m., several minutes after the pilot's
call.
Robert Ferrigno, who lives down the
street, said he heard the crash from his
home.
"Planes go over here all the time, but this
afternoon, I heard, 'putt, putt, putt,' and
then I heard, 'boom,'" Mr Ferrigno said.
"I looked outside, and there were flames
shooting up over the trees."
Mr Ferrigno and another neighbour,
Armando Gonzalez, ran down the street
to the crash site.
The home's owner - identified by FHP as
Susan Crockett - was already outside
when they arrived, screaming that a plane
had crashed into her house.
"The house was in flames, and there were
explosions - boom, boom, boom - inside
the house," Gonzalez said. He said the tail
appeared to be sticking out the roof of
the single-story ranch home.
Mr Ferrigno added that the crash had
thrown insulation everywhere, saying, "It
looked like it was snowing."
Crockett was taken to a nearby hospital as
a precaution, Asbury said. She was listed
in stable condition.
Authorities didn't immediately identify
the people on the plane.