Matt Gelb, Aubrey Whelan, and Kristen A. Graham
Last updated: Sunday, March 29, 2015, 4:34 PM
Posted: Sunday, March 29, 2015, 2:03 PM
District Attorney Tom Hogan confirmed the deaths. He declined to identify the victims.
Hogan said the plane had just taken off from the airport when it crashed in the field in West Goshen. Emergency crews at the crash site said the plane was in flames.
Patty Mains, spokeswoman for Chester County emergency services, said the plane took off and crossed over Route 202 before crashing over the 1000 block of Saunders Lane.
The crash happened in a wooded area separating two residences and the Harrison Hills Apartments, a new over-55 complex. A fence separates the apartments from the field.
A neighbor who lives adjacent said he saw smoke and fire coming from the field for a time, but heard nothing.
Frank Kraus, though, heard a "big bang" but could not see anything - his apartment is on the opposite side of the complex from the field. Kraus, who moved into the Harrison Hills complex two months ago, said that planes don't usually fly that way.
Kraus was shaken by how close the plane came to the apartments.
"Very close - thank God for the pilot, but then the pilot and his passenger didn't make it," he said. "It's sad."
At mid-day, emergency services personnel, including police and fire officials, were on the scene, combing through the wreckage.
The West Goshen police department is handling the investigation until the Federal Aviation Administration arrives.
Sunday's death was not the first Brandywine Airport fatality. In 2005, a pilot flying a Piper II Saratoga and his passenger were killed attempting to land near the airport.
215-854-5146 @newskag
No comments:
Post a Comment