A small plane crash-landed in a parking lot in suburban Pennsylvania after taking off with its door open.
Dramatic footage showed the aircraft, believed to be a Beechcraft A36TC, erupt in flames in the parking lot, lined with other vehicles, in Manheim Township.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County – as flames engulfed the plane. It is unclear how many people were on board.
The aircraft crashed, triggering a fiery inferno and causing multiple adjacent vehicles to burst into flames, between Fairview Drive and Meadowview Court.
The aircraft’s tail can be seen in the wreckage, squashed up next to parked cars and surrounded by thick black smoke billowing through the air.
Numerous injuries have been reported at the scene – including burn victims.
The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door was open.
Horrifying air traffic control audio revealed the pilot telling ground agents that they needed to turn around – but at one point he said that he couldn’t hear the radio because of all the wind noise, caused by the unlocked hatch.
Dramatic footage showed the aircraft erupt in flames in a parking lot, lined with other vehicles, in Manheim Township
The aircraft’s tail can be seen in the wreckage, squashed up next to parked cars and surrounded by thick black smoke
Emergency services are seen working on the small plane crash in Pennsylvania
The air traffic controller can be heard saying: ‘Pull up… the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area.’
The parking lot where the plane landed is just two streets away from Lancaster Airport – and serves a retirement home, Fairview Meadows.
Public records provided by Lancaster Airport show that a commuter airline provided by Southern Airways Express departed the airport at 2:59pm – bound for Dulles International Airport in Virginia. It’s unclear if this was the affected aircraft.
This comes after a particularly tumultuous start to the year for the aviation industry.
In January, sixty passengers, four crew, and three US Army personnel died after American Airlines Flight 5342 smashed into a US Army Black Hawk helicopter as it came into land at Reagan National Airport.
Passengers aboard Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, included members of the US figure skating team who were returning from the US Figure Skating Championships.
Smoke is seen billowing from the site of the aircraft crash
In February, two people died after a pair of planes collided in midair at Arizona’s Marana Airport.
Images showed one of the planes was left as a pile of rubble and ashes after it crash-landed next to the runway, while the other aircraft landed safely.
One of the aircraft involved appeared intact on the runway as cops raced to the scene, while a thick plume of black smoke could be seen over the airport and surrounding area shortly after the planes collided.
