CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — The crackling sound of pure destruction could be heard Thursday evening, as firefighters scrambled after a plane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed three people died.
An FAA report said the pilot and two people on the ground were killed in the crash. The report went on to detail the aircraft, saying it was a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35. That’s the plane the FAA said crashed after the pilot reported an engine failure.
That unidentified pilot is now dead.
Richard Renner lives in the mobile home community himself. He said he was just watching TV with friends on a typical Thursday evening when he heard a loud bang.
“The house shook. The windows rattled,” Renner said. “We’re like wow, we thought it was an accident up on US-19.”
It wasn’t long before he recognized the house, realizing his friend Martha was probably inside.
“I was at dinner with her Wednesday,” Renner recalled. “We have a community dinner and she was up there and we were talking.”
“Just a very nice lady,” he described. “I’ve known her for several years now that she’s been coming down.”
This is a devastating loss for the Bayside Waters mobile home park, something Renner describes as a close community.
“Everybody’s concerned,” he explained. “Everybody’s upset.”
“It’s 350 homes,” Renner continued. “It’s a very tight-knit community. Everybody knows everybody else.”
Renner was shocked three people were killed in this plane crash so close to home, but it’s a tragedy Renner said could’ve ended much worse.
“There had been other people in the house 15 minutes prior, my neighbor was there,” he explained. “They had drinks after a golf outing.”
“Like eight of them left and the two were still there,” he continued. “One was leaving when her drink was done and she didn’t get out.”
