Plane crashes in Pennsylvania at retirement village

A plane has crashed into the carpark of a Pennsylvania retirement home, with reports at least five passengers were on board the aircraft.

A plane has crashed in the carpark of a retirement community in Pennsylvania, with reports at least five passengers were on board the aircraft.

According to local media, the crash happened at Brethren Village in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Shocking video has emerged showing the fiery aftermath of the small plane crash, with vision showing the aircraft in a fireball wreckage in the carpark with black smoke billowing from the scene.

Local police said the plane “went down” on Sunday (Monday AEDT) and emergency crews are responding. No official toll on injuries has been confirmed, however CNN media affiliate WGAL confirmed multiple ambulances were on the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration said five people were on board the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, however their condition remains unknown as each have been taken to hospital.

As reported by the New York Times, Duane Fisher, police chief of Manheim Township, said at the news conference that it looked like the aircraft skidded about30 metres after hitting the ground. About a dozen vehicles were damaged, though there was no damage to buildings.

A bystander filmed the crash. Picture: Shannon Pipkin/X

A security official who witnessed the crash said a fireball engulfed the aircraft and black smoke was also seen.

In a statement to Fox News, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed the crash.

The crash happened in Pennsylvania. Picture: Shannon Pipkin/X

“A Beechcraft Bonanza crashed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, around 3pm local time on Sunday, March 9,” the statement read.

“Five people were on board. The FAA will investigate.”

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said in a post on X that “all Commonwealth resources are available as the response continues” and that Pennsylvania State Police are “on the ground assisting local first responders”.

According to aviation tracking website FlightAware, it is understood the plane departed from Lancaster Airport, just north of the crash site, and was headed toward Springfield, Ohio.

Air traffic control audio has been released of the small aircraft crash, with the pilot telling ground staff that they needed to turn around.

It’s understood that the plane had an unlocked hatch, causing audio disturbance in the cockpit. The air traffic controller can be heard saying: “pull up … the aircraft is down just behind the terminal in the parking lot tree area,” as reported by The Telegraph.

The incident follows a string of aviation incidents in North America this year that have spiked public concern.

In late January, an American Airlines plane collided with an US army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington DC, killing all 67 people on-board both aircraft.

Less than a week later, a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, that killed seven people. The following month in February, a plane crashed in a remote corner of Alaska that killed 10 people. Most recently — and miraculously without any casualties — a Delta plane flipped upon landing at an airport in Toronto, Canada.

This image taken from video provided by CTV shows workers near the crashed Delta passenger jet on a tarmac of the Toronto Pearson Airport in February. Picture: CTV via AP.

Images and video of the accident showed the Delta CRJ-900 aircraft catch fire when it hit the tarmac and proceeded to turn sideways while sliding across the airfield, losing its tail and both wings along the way.

Eventually, the aircraft flipped over entirely before coming to a halt. Passengers on the plane were filmed dangling upside down, suspended by their fastened seatbelts.

According to a recent AP-Norc poll, flyer confidence is starting to take a hit with the cluster of aviation incidents. As reported by The Guardian, the research found that 64 per cent of Americans consider air travel very or somewhat safe, down from 71 per cent last year.

Australian aviation expert Neil Hansford believes some of these crashes could have the years of Covid-19 to blame.

“You want to go back and look at the effect of Covid,” Mr Hansford, who has more than 30 years experience in the aviation industry, told news.com.au.

“That two years really precluded pilot training, and it wasn’t only the pilot training that didn’t get done … but the older folk chose to either be furloughed or retire.

“So a lot of experience at the top end of the scales disappeared out of the industry … you lost a hell of a lot of training too.”

More to come