Five people were taken to the hospital after a plane crash-landed in the parking lot of a retirement home in Pennsylvania.
Footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC bursting into flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township.
Emergency crews, including medics and ambulances, rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as the fire spread to nearby vehicles. The plane had taken off as planned on Sunday afternoon but soon asked to return to the airport because its door had opened mid-flight.
Air traffic control audio captured the pilot saying they needed to turn back. At one point, he struggled to hear the radio because of the strong wind noise from the open hatch.
A controller can be heard saying, “Pull up… the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area.”
According to the FAA, five people were on board. They were all taken to local hospitals with different injuries.
Residents of the retirement home were asked to stay inside as a safety measure, but officials confirmed that the pilot managed to avoid hitting any buildings. No one on the ground was hurt.
The crash caused a massive fire, setting nearby cars on fire between Fairview Drive and Meadowview Court.
Photos from the scene showed the plane’s tail section with the code N347M crushed next to parked cars, surrounded by thick black smoke.
The crash site is just two streets away from Lancaster Airport. The parking lot belongs to Brethren Village, a nearby retirement home. The plane was supposed to fly to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Ohio.
This accident comes during a difficult period for the aviation industry.
In January, a tragic crash at Reagan National Airport killed 60 passengers, four crew members, and three US Army personnel when an American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.
Days later, a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people on board.
Another small plane crashed in Alaska, killing 10 people.
In February, two planes collided midair at Arizona’s Marana Airport, leaving two people dead. One plane landed safely, while the other burst into flames next to the runway.