2 Killed After Plane Crashes, Clips SUV Along Busy Road in Florida
Two people were killed on Thursday when a plane went down near a roadway in Florida and crashed into a car in what was at least the third fatal crash involving a small plane in three days.
The Beechcraft Baron, which was carrying two passengers, went down around 11:30 a.m. on a highway southeast of the Ocala International Airport, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to PEOPLE.
The Ocala Police Department confirmed on Facebook that the two victims were the plane’s occupants.
The Baron was attempting to make an emergency landing after suffering a mechanical issue when it clipped the top of an SUV, hit a pole, and went up in flames, NBC affiliate WESH reported.
The driver of the SUV, an elderly man, was hospitalized as a trauma alert, though his condition was not immediately known, according to CBS affiliate WKMG.
The FAA will investigate the crash and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause of the accident.
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The crash is at least the third in as many days; Michael Schloss, 74, died on Tuesday when his Cessna 414A went down in Colonia, New Jersey, sparking a fire that engulfed a two-story home and damaged adjacent buildings.
On Wednesday, a Piper PA-28 crashed into a townhouse complex in Atlanta shortly after take-off, killing two people.
