Multiple people were killed Thursday as a Beechcraft Bonanza V35 airplane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida.
According to a preliminary report released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 aircraft crashed into the Bayside Waters mobile home park at roughly 7 p.m. local time on Thursday after the pilot reported that the aircraft had experienced an engine failure. The FAA noted that the crash resulted in a “post crash fire.”
Addressing reporters after the airplane crash on Thursday, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said at least three homes were damaged by the plane crash and subsequent fire. Ehlers added that while three structures “definitely” sustained damage from the fire, a fourth home might have also sustained fire damage.
Ehler told reporters the remains of the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 aircraft were located inside one of the damaged structures and that “several” people were killed in Thursday’s plane crash.
The FAA’s preliminary report listed three deaths in the incident. The pilot, who was the only person on the aircraft when it crashed, and two other individuals on the ground were reportedly killed in the crash.
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The Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing the devastation of the “post crash fire” Thursday evening.
“We’re on scene of a small plane crash at a mobile home park south of Clearwater Mall. Multiple mobile homes have caught fire,” fire officials wrote. “Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions are on scene.”
Steven Ascari, a resident of Clearwater, told CNN that at the time of the plane crash, he heard a loud noise like an explosion that rattled his apartment. “And next thing you know a giant pillar of smoke was seen,” Ascari said.
