Single-engine plane crashes near Pennsylvania airport in US, all 5 aboard taken to hospital

The crash took place at about 3pm in the parking lot of a retirement community, which is south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, according to police chief Duane Fisher.

First responders work the scene after a plane crashed in the parking lot of a retirement community in Manheim Township, Pa. (LNP/LancasterOnline via AP)

In an incident involving a single engine plane which was carrying five people aboard, it crashed and burst into flames near a small airport in suburban Pennsylvania, and all five aboard survived the crash, officials and witnesses said, Associated Press reported.

The crash took place at about 3pm in the parking lot of a retirement community, which is south of Lancaster Airport in Manheim Township, according to police chief Duane Fisher who briefed the reporters about the incident.

The police chief further added that all five people aboard the plane were taken to hospital but their condition remains unknown. The chief further informed that no one was injured on the ground involving the plane crash.

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A police officer walks past debris after a plane crashed in a parking lot of a retirement community, in Manheim Township, Pa. (Zach Gleiter/The Patriot-News via AP)

According to a witness Brian Pipkin, who was driving nearby and saw a small plane climbing and then plunging to its left before it crashed, said “And then it went down nose first. There was an immediate fireball. It was so smoky and it was so hot. They were really struggling to get the fire out,” reported AP.

Police chief Fisher said that about a dozen cars parked in the retirement community were damaged, and the residents of Brethren Village were briefly asked by the authorities to take shelter in place as a precaution.

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“I don’t know if I’d consider it a miracle, but the fact that we have a plane crash where everybody survives and nobody on the ground is hurt is a wonderful thing,” police chief Fisher added.

The US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will investigate the incident and confirmed that the Beechcraft Bonanza had five people onboard.

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