One person was killed when a small plane crashed into a Florida resident’s yard and erupted into flames and plumes of smoke Sunday morning, according to authorities.
The Cessna 401B airplane departed from Tampa North Aero Park with one pilot aboard before crashing into a residential yard in Wesley Chapel around 8:35 a.m., according to the National Transportation Safety Board and CBS News.
After the twin-engine plane plummeted to the ground under “unknown circumstances,” it caught on fire and caused some damage to the residence, WTSP reported.
The pilot, who has not been publicly identified, was killed, authorities said.
Ring Camera footage from a neighbor, Christina Galbiati, captured a massive plume of dark smoke rising from the back of the home after the freak crash, the outlet reported.
Galbiati posted on social media that she had been drinking her morning coffee when she witnessed the plane suddenly fall from the sky.
She said the “hero” pilot appear to intentionally nose-dive away from the house.
“This morning while drinking my morning coffee, I witnessed a plane crash,” Galbiati wrote in a Facebook post.
“The boys saw the plane flying low from the backyard, and I heard it come over my head, purposely turn and then nose dive. It was a white and blue plane with a couple of numbers on it,” she wrote.
“The pilot was alone (I think) and didn’t make it, but he was a hero as I saw him go straight down on purpose to avoid the house it was near.”
Alarming images of the wreckage released by Pasco County firefighters also showed debris from the plane lit ablaze as it scattered across the yard full of palm trees.
The NTSB said in a statement to The Post that an investigator is en route to the scene and will examine the aircraft before removing it to a “secure facility” for further evaluation.
The Federal Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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