Update: The Florida Highway Patrol says the three people aboard the airplane that crashed in Palm Coast yesterday were 57-year old Michael R. Anders of Albany, Kentucky; 59-year old Duane L. Shaw of Albany, Kentucky; and 42-year old Charissee M. Peoples of Indianapolis, Indiana.
According to the Clinton County Schools website, Michael Anders was a Spanish teacher at Clinton County High School in Albany, Kentucky.
Original story, updated with 911 calls:
Three people were killed in the crash of a private plane near the Flagler County Airport Friday afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. In addition, a Palm Coast woman in the home at the time of the crash apparently escaped without major injuries. The FHP says Susan Crockett was in her bedroom around 2:19 Friday afternoon, when the plane crashed into the home and she escaped through a window. The FHP says she was treated and released at a local hospital. 911 tapes of calls about the plane crash also include a call from Susan Crockett’s daughter, reporting that she had been on the phone with her mother, and that her mother said a plane had crashed into her home and for her daughter to call 911 to report it.
In a preliminary investigation, the Florida Highway Patrol says the three people in the plane were flying from Ft. Pierce to Knoxville, Tennessee. There were initial reports that five people were in the plane instead. The FHP says the pilot called in that he was having engine problems and that smoke was visible, and then the plane ran into an area of bad weather. In an initial report from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, reports were that the pilot had also said that the plane was shaking severely. The FHP says calls starting coming into the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office about the plane crash shortly after the pilots’ mayday call. Troopers say the plane crashed into a house at 22 Utica Path, which is in a wooded neighborhood just east of Seminole Woods Boulevard, south of State Road 100. Seminole Woods Boulevard in that area is also directly east of the Flagler County Airport.
Troopers say the plane evidently made “…a steep descent prior to entering the roof of the home.” The fire from the crash devoured the entire plane except for parts of a wing, and also “…a great portion of the house.” There was no word yet Friday evening about the identities of the occupants of the plane, and authorities were awaiting the arrival Friday night of representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. The FHP says the plane was registered in the Virgin Islands, and was a 1957 Bonanza H35.
One of the calls to 911 regarding the plane crash was from the tower at Flagler County Airport. In that call, tower personnel tell a 911 call-taker that the plane is about five miles out from the Flagler County Airport and had reported an emergency. At that time, Flagler Tower staff stated that the plane was still in contact with the Daytona Beach tower, and had been assigned a runway to land on at the Flagler County Airport. The 911 tapes were made available by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
From the media staging area at Ulaturn Trail and Utica Path, just six houses south of the crash site, the taped-off area around the home could be seen Friday afternoon, where fire and law enforcement vehicles filled the street. Florida Power and Light crews were also called-in and worked on power lines on Utica Path. Pictures from that area can be viewed in the slideshow with this article.
Click here to visit the Florida Highway Patrol website.
Click here to visit the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office website.
You can contact Mike Royer at mroyer5@yahoo.com
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