3 Dead, 1 Hurt in Small Plane Crash in Florida Neighborhood

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) — A boy who was riding in a SUV with his mother died when a small plane struggling to return to a South Florida airport crashed into them on a residential street, officials said.

Two people on the plane died in the Monday afternoon crash, which was recorded by a neighbor’s security camera. The boy’s mother was also injured, but authorities said she was released from the hospital later Monday, Pembroke Pines Fire Chief Marcel Rodriguez told news outlets.

The Beechcraft Bonanza plane had just taken off from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines and was returning just before 3 p.m., the fire chief said. He said it may have experienced mechanical issues after taking off.

“The car literally looks like it’s just in half,” neighbor Salah Elshaer, who called 911, told WSVN.

“We heard like a bomb, like a tremendous noise, and we went outside, and everything was on fire,” another neighbor, Annabel Fernandez, told the television station.

The boy’s mother was able to get out of the vehicle and was trying to free her son. Firefighters eventually freed the trapped child and they were taken to the hospital, where the boy died.

A neighbor’s door camera recorded the crash, showing the plane nose-diving into the SUV as the woman was driving down a street. The plane’s wreckage then hurtles along the pavement, leaving a line of flames in its wake. The plane also took out a power line when it crashed, officials said.

The names of the victims have not been released.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.