LITITZ, Pa. — (AP) — Three of the five family members injured in a single-engine plane crash in Pennsylvania after the pilot reported an open door on the aircraft were sent to a burn center for treatment, officials said Monday.
TV station WGAL in Lancaster identified the pilot as Matt White and the four passengers injured in Sunday's crash as his family members, citing the aviation company, Venture Jets, where White is an executive board member. The plane was White's personal plane, WGAL reported.
No one was killed in the fiery crash and no one was injured on the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said Monday that a contractor was cleaning up an undetermined amount of jet fuel from the plane that ended up in a stormwater basin. Surface water was not affected, the agency said.
Federal investigators had no immediate comment on a cause of the crash and neither authorities nor hospitals officials have released the victims’ identities or conditions.
Two patients were flown to the Lehigh Valley Health Network's burn center and a third was driven there by ambulance, according to a spokesperson for Lancaster General Hospital, where all five occupants were taken immediately after the crash. The other two patients were released Sunday night from Lancaster General, the spokesperson said.
The plane burst into flames as it crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday from Lancaster Airport and was destroyed. Cars were ignited when it landed in a parking lot of the Brethren Village retirement community in Lititz, some 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Philadelphia. Residents there briefly had to shelter in place.
The Beechcraft Bonanza plane, registered to Jam Zoom Yayos LLC in Manheim, not far from the airport, went down just after 3 p.m. FlightAware said the plane was headed to Springfield, Ohio.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation and was working with the FAA, which it said has someone at the site to examine it and gather documentation.
Investigators will look into the pilot, the aircraft and the operating environment, the NTSB said. That will include gathering recordings of air traffic control communications, flight tracking data, witness statements, surveillance video and aircraft maintenance records, it said.
A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the accident, while an investigation can take 12 to 24 months to complete, it said.
Witness Brian Pipkin was driving when he noticed the plane veer to its left.
“And then it went down nose first,” Pipkin said Sunday. “There was an immediate fireball.” He called 911.
Air traffic control audio captured the pilot reporting that the aircraft “has an open door, we need to return for a landing.”
An air traffic controller is heard clearing the plane to land, before saying, “Pull up!” Moments later, someone can be heard saying the aircraft was “down just behind the terminal in the parking lot street area.”