All five people on board a small plane that crashed into a residential area in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on Sunday survived and were taken to hospitals, authorities said.
Conditions for the five were unavailable, and officials have not provided details on their injuries. Manheim Township Fire Chief Scott Little said at a news conference no one on the ground was injured, but five vehicles were damaged.
The plane had just taken off from Lancaster Airport when it went down in the Brethren Village retirement community, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, crashed at 3 p.m.
The five were initially transported to Lancaster General Hospital, where two of them remained Sunday evening. Three were taken to Lehigh Valley Health Network’s burn center, a Lancaster General Hospital spokesperson said.
Little said first responders were on scene within three minutes and faced multiple fires.
“They had heavy fire on arrival from the aircraft,” he said.
Manheim Police Chief Duane Fisher said the plane appeared to have skidded about 100 feet when it hit the ground but may have avoided structures.
Residents were initially told to shelter in place as a precaution, Fisher said at the news conference, which was held near the crash site.
Air traffic control radio traffic indicates someone in the plane reported an open door on the aircraft shortly after takeoff and requested permission to return to Lancaster Airport.
Air traffic control is heard clearing the plane to land before urging it to “pull up.”
Little said federal officials would look into the possibility of an open door on the aircraft as part of their investigation.
Flight tracker FlightAware shows the aircraft was scheduled to fly to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Springfield, Ohio.
Video from NBC affiliate WGAL of Lancaster showed the crashed plane in the parking area at Brethren Village, less than a mile from Lancaster Airport.
Brethren Village did not immediately respond to a request for more information Sunday.
Online images of the crash showed the tail of a plane in a parking lot with the rest of the aircraft engulfed in flames. Little said any remaining fire was extinguished and the scene was under control a little more than three hours after the crash.
“A plane crash where everybody survives and nobody on the ground is hurt is a wonderful thing,” Fisher, the police chief, said. “To have this type of ending so far is a great day for us.”
FAA information showed the plane is registered to an entity in Manheim. The aircraft is a popular single-engine model introduced in 1947 and usually able to carry six.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the crash and said it would work with the FAA.
Gemma DiCasimirro, Jay Blackman, Nollaig O’Connor and Elizabeth Maline contributed.
