A small airplane crashed into a resident’s yard in Florida on Sunday morning, resulting in one fatality, according to officials.
The Cessna 401B took off from Tampa North Aero Park with just the pilot aboard and went down in a Wesley Chapel home’s yard around 8:35 a.m., as reported by the National Transportation Safety Board.
After the twin-engine aircraft hit the ground under “unknown circumstances,” it caught fire, also causing some damage to the house nearby.
Authorities confirmed the pilot, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, did not survive the incident.
A neighbor, Christina Galbiati, shared that her Ring camera captured significant black smoke rising from the backyard after the crash.
Galbiati mentioned on social media that she was enjoying her morning coffee when she noticed the plane descending rapidly.
She described what she saw: “The pilot seemed to have purposefully nosedived to avoid crashing into homes.”
In her Facebook post, she recounted, “While I was sipping my coffee, I saw a plane go down. The boys were outside and pointed out how low it was flying. I distinctly heard it make a controlled turn before plummeting.” She noted details about the plane’s appearance, adding, “Unfortunately, it appears the pilot was alone, so he never made it. But seeing him descend to steer clear of other houses was really something.”
Images showing the wreckage revealed pieces of the plane in flames, scattered across a garden filled with palm trees.
The NTSB stated they had investigators on-site, intending to thoroughly examine the aircraft before moving it to a secure location for additional analysis.
As of now, the Federal Aviation Administration has not commented on the situation.
