WORLD> America
Plane splits home in half, pilot dies
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-18 11:21

Plane splits home in half, pilot dies
A firefighter surveys the remains of the house split in two after a small plane crashed minutes after take-off in a suburb of Oakland Park, Fla., Friday, April 17, 2009. [Agencies] 

Though the fire was quickly controlled, firefighters were trying isolate fuel in the debris, said Oakland Park Fire-Rescue Chief Donald Widing. A utility company also cut power in the area to about 1,645 customers because they were not able to get in to assess damage to power lines.

Nolasco said he and his nephew, Alex Martines, were staying in a hotel and getting assistance from the Red Cross. When authorities called him to tell him about the crash, Nolasco said he thought it was a joke.

Nolasco said his employer has reduced his hours, and it's not unusal for him to be home on a weekday. He was needed at the factory Friday, though, and left for work hours before the crash.

"I have to thank God I have my life," he said.

"The house was a total loss," said Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Jachles. "The plane went right into the center of the house."

The crash was at least the fifth involving the airport, which caters to small planes and jets, in the last 12 years.

In 2007, a twin-engine Beechcraft reached about 150 feet after takeoff before the pilot reported he could not maintain altitude and declared a mayday. He crashed onto Interstate 95, but survived.

A DC-3 cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff into a residential street near the airport in 2005. The pilot, co-pilot and a passenger all survived. The pilot said at the time they chose the street because it was quiet and wide, and has an abundance of tall palm trees he could run into to slow the plane's speed.

In 2004, a Piper Cherokee crashed into the roof of an auto body shop shortly after takeoff, killing two people on the plane and critically injuring a third. And in 1997, a new pilot died when he crashed his Beechcraft Skipper 77 into a tree near the airport just after takeoff.

National Transportation Safety Board records show that Cessna 421s have been involved in 12 fatal accidents since 2004.