VIDEO: Three Killed in Plane Crash at Florida Mobile Home Park

Amy Furr

Three people died when a plane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida, on Thursday evening.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said one individual onboard the plane and two others on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed at the Bayside Waters Mobile Home Park, Fox 13 reported Friday.

Video footage shows the fire that erupted after the incident, engulfing trees and damaging other mobile homes at the park as firefighters worked to quell the flames:

“When the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V-35 plane crashed into the small, close-knit, 55-plus community, it immediately burst into flames. Residents say they heard something like an explosion or a bomb going off,” the Fox article said.

An image shows first responders at the scene with smoke filling the air:

When speaking with reporters following the crash, Clearwater Police Chief Gandy said his officers arrived to support firefighters as they battled the blaze:

View this if you will as a serious traffic crash, one of our traffic homicide crashes. That’s how we approach these things. Scene preservation is critical and because we’re here before FAA and NTSB it’s our responsibility to ensure this scene’s integrity. So that’s what my units are doing, we’re ensuring the scene is secure and maintained. We work with the medical examiner’s office to remove any victims and work on victim identification. We work to find any witnesses so we can turn all of that information over to our federal partners. Clearly, local law enforcement doesn’t determine causality and causation with aircraft crashes.

Chief Gandy appears with Fire Chief Ehlers to give the latest on the plane crash.

Posted by Clearwater Police Department on Thursday, February 1, 2024

The plane apparently did not have its lights on and was coming down at a 45-degree angle, witnesses claimed, the Fox article said.

Aerial video footage shows the crash site damage on several surrounding homes:

“FAA officials say the pilot reported engine failure and responders on the ground began staging for an emergency landing at Clearwater St. Pete Airport (PIE), before the plane crashed about three miles north of the runway,” the Fox report noted.

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