The plane’s pilot reported having issues upon approach to the Tampa Bay area.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Clearwater fire chief confirmed several fatalities Thursday evening after a small plane crashed into a mobile home park, igniting several homes.
Authorities believe the pilot is dead, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said. It remains unclear, however, how many people were on board the plane and how many people were inside the affected mobile homes.
The plane’s pilot called “mayday, mayday, mayday,” before coming down in the Bayside Waters mobile home community, Ehlers said during a news conference. “They were in contact with Tampa approach and having issues.”
Multiple crews, including police, fire and medical, were dispatched just after 7 p.m. to the community located off U.S. Highway 19 and just south of Gulf to Bay Boulevard.
One person received some sort of injury after the crash and refused treatment. Efforts are ongoing to determine how many people were in the home that the chief called “demolished” by the plane’s impact.
A total of four homes were damaged, Ehlers said.
“When I walked out and saw it, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that house is totally involved [in flames].’ There’s no way I could get close to it,” said neighbor Marvin Shepherd, who said he’s been in fire protection for 35 years. “Cars were pulling up to look; I got them off the streets, so the fire trucks when they arrived could get down the street. I did some things like that to help out.
“It’s sad, and I’m praying for the people that were involved,” he said.
Frances Yont said she could feel the heat from the fire as she ran out of her house located across the street from the crash.
“Everything was popping like propane tanks,” she said. “We couldn’t do anything … it was horrible.”
Chris Albright lives next door to the mobile home community at Cortland Bayside.
“It felt like the sound was kind of vibrating the apartment … it was crazy,” he said.
Laketa Collins told 10 Tampa Bay she was pumping gas at the nearby Costco when she saw a white light, appearing to fall “like a shooting star,” she said.
“I noticed as it was coming down, it was just a solid white ball, just coming down, it didn’t dim or nothing,” Collins continued.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are heading to the scene to conduct an investigation.
