Another day, another deadly air crash. This time it was a small plane that dropped from the sky Friday morning in Boca Raton, killing all three people on board and injuring a bystander on the ground, who was rushed to the hospital.
This comes after yesterday's helicopter crash, which landed upside down over the Hudson River, killing six people.
The Cessna had taken off from Boca Raton Airport, heading to Tallahassee, when less than 20 minutes later it turned back towards the airport. But it never made it, flying extremely low before crashing near Interstate 95 onto railroad tracks. (See video below, posted by Art Candee.)
"It basically came back, it was looking like maybe it was going towards the airport, approaching, and from there I just saw it drop below the trees," witness Dillon Smith said, via NBC Miami 6. "I heard the boom and basically shake of the windows simultaneously and then saw a cloud of smoke."
The plane caught fire with plumes of smoke billowing into the air, the witnesses said.
"We thought when we saw it, it skimmed like the top of like one of the buildings, that's how low it was," witness David Simon said. …
Boca Raton Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Michael LaSalle said the three people who were on the aircraft were killed and a man who was in a vehicle on the ground was injured. He suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"One gentleman on the ground, he hit a tree because of all the debris and the fire," LaSalle said. "It was from the fireball on the ground, he drove through apparently the fireball." …
The crash will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
— NBC Miami 6
Today's fatal accident, blamed on mechanical issues, makes 25 "deadly aviation crashes in the U.S." so far this year. That's according to stats reported by Chattanooga's Local3 News yesterday, after the helicopter crash. Although air crashes are actually down this year, according to Aviation Pros, fatalities from aircraft-related accidents are way up. In other words, this isn't normal.
Previously: Incredible video of the fighter jet crashing nose first into the Pacific Ocean yesterday
