A small plane crashed at a Florida mobile home park, leaving several people dead.
On Thursday evening (February 1), a Beechcraft Bonanza V35 slammed into the Bayside Waters mobile home park, formerly known as Japanese Gardens, south of Clearwater Mall, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed to Fox News.
The pilot of the single-engine aircraft had reported an engine failure shortly before it went down at about 7PM, which led to the plane colliding into one home and leaving at least three homes with fire damage - although the flames were quickly extinguished.
During a news conference, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers revealed there were "several fatalities" from the incident, both of the passengers in the plane and people in one of the homes that were affected by the crash.
The exact number of fatalities has yet to be confirmed.
Clearwater - home to more than 110,000 residents - is about 23 miles west of Tampa on Florida’s central west coast.
Ehlers disclosed at the press briefing that four homes were damaged in the mobile home park, adding: "A mobile home doesn't withstand much in the first place, so the aircraft pretty much demolished it. The fire consumed the rest," per Reuters.
The city's fire officials posted a video of the harrowing incident on X (formerly Twitter), writing in the caption: "We’re on scene of a small plane crash at a mobile home park south of Clearwater Mall. Multiple mobile homes have caught fire. Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions are on scene."
The distressing clip shows a massive fireball erupting from the park, with the flames engulfing the homes and surrounding trees. Another video from the scene also revealed red plumes of smoke rising from several mobile homes as shocked residents stood by in a nearby car park.
It is not yet clear how many people were on board the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 plane itself.
After the pilot reported an engine failure to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport, he went off radar about 3 miles north of a runway, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told CNN.
Furthermore, Clearwater authorities attended the crash site and revealed at a briefing that they were working hard to secure and preserve the scene.
"We'll be working through that scene as the night progresses to further clarify what we have and secure that scene for NTSB and FAA's arrival later in the evening," Chief Eric Gandy said, as cited by the publication.
Clearwater resident Steven Ascari opened up about the devastating incident and said that he heard what sounded like an explosion on Thursday evening that shook his entire apartment. "And next thing you know a giant pillar of smoke was seen," he recalled.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.
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