(NewsSpace.com) – Pilots go through extensive training before they’re allowed to fly planes. However, despite this, there are still several small aircraft crashes each year. Some are attributed to pilot error, while others are said to be engine-related. It appears it was the latter in Florida, when several people died after a Beechcraft Bonanza V35 crashed into a mobile home park.
The accident happened on Thursday, February 1, just after 7 p.m. in Clearwater. The pilot of the single-engine plane radioed in to report engine failure before it went down. It was headed from Vero Regional Beach Airport to Clearwater Airpark.
While authorities were initially unsure how many people were onboard, it was later revealed to be just the pilot, 54-year-old Jemin Patel. However, when he crashed, he did so into a mobile home park, and two people on the ground died. Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said that the plane landed mostly on one home, and the situation could have been much worse.
The victims were 54-year-old Martha Parry and 86-year-old Mary Ellen Pender, who were in Pender’s mobile home at the time of the crash. Firefighters worked hard to put out the flames, which were mostly limited to Pender’s home. Parry’s husband, Bobby Dixon, went to find his wife when she didn’t return home from golfing. When he arrived at the community, officers brought some jewelry from the victims to him, and he knew his wife was gone. He insisted on seeing the crash site, which gave him a bit of closure as he realized his wife wouldn’t have suffered considering the scene.
Pender was a retired nurse who enjoyed traveling, and according to her husband, “she had a big, loud laugh. And she had a big, loud mouth.”
According to NBC News, the crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. It’s not clear when the results of the probe will be available.
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