CLEARWATER, Fla -At approximately 7:00 pm on Thursday, a plane crash was reported in a small Florida neighborhood located three miles north of the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport runway.
According to city officials, the plane had taken off from Vero Beach earlier in the day. The plane is described as a single-engine, Beechcraft Bonanza V35.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration's report, the pilot reported an engine failure minutes before crashing and witnesses say that the plane did not have its lights on and was coming in at a 45-degree angle.
First 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.
Witnesses say they felt their house shake when the aircraft crashed nearby- They described it as the sound of a bomb exploding.
According to the FAA, one person on board the plane and two people on the ground died when the plane slammed into the mobile home park along U.S. 19.
As many as nine people had been inside the mobile home on Pagoda Drive shortly before the crash, but all but two had left the home, according to the city.
Thankfully, the surrounding neighbors were able to evacuate their homes while the Fire Department cleared the scene.
The Clearwater fire chief says there were four homes affected by the crash and fire and at least one home was destroyed.
Further investigation is being conducted by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
As of Friday morning, officials were still digging through the wreckage.