'It Could Have Been Us': Pilot Says Both People Who Died In Plane Crash At North Perry Airport Were Experienced
PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) – A small memorial now sits by the fence of the North Perry Airport.
Three people were killed Monday, when a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane came crashing down onto SW 72nd Avenue in Pembroke Pines, just short of the runway.
It also struck a passing car.
The pilot and passenger in the plane were killed, as well as a little boy in the car.
Four-year-old Taylor Bishop was transported to the hospital after being extricated from the car, where he later died.
His mother, Megan Bishop, is a special education teacher's assistant in Broward County Schools. She has been released from the hospitalized.
"We all get affected, because, you know, it could have been us," said Robert Arkin.
He's with the North Perry Airport Community Association and a pilot himself.
"When we get in our airplanes and helicopters, we don't look at it as it's going to be our last flight, because we are trained to handle these types of events," he said.
Arkin said he knew the pilot and the passenger who were killed, adding they both were well-experienced. At this point, those names have not been released.
"It's very unusual that this happens, because there's over 300,000 operations that happen in North Perry," he explained. "There's not that many accidents, let alone fatalities."
Some people who live near the airport, however, feel as though it has happened too many times.
"Accident here, accident there," said German Garzon. "A lot of people are concerned. I'm concerned."
Two plane crashes happened at the airport in December 2020, and there was another accident at the end of November 2020. That one was also fatal.
"No, I don't think that's common at most airports," said Jim Hall, former NTSB Chair. "What is common at most airports is the responsibility of the administration of that airport to do everything they can to learn from this accident."
While he said the cause of this accident has not yet been released, he encourages airport leadership to review these accidents to see if there are any commonalities that could be contributing to the frequency.
"The best way to have a safe system is to have a culture that takes every accident seriously and considered every accident one too many," he said. "The people on the ground deserve as much safety as the people in the air, and that requires vigorous oversight by the FAA and local officials."
North Perry Airport is owned by the Broward County Aviation Department. Broward Mayor Steve Geller said 14 total accidents have occurred over the last five years.
"Closing this airport is not an option," he said. "It will create more traffic in other places."
The most recent numbers from the FAA are from 2019, which show a national average of three small plane crashes in the United States per day.
The family of Taylor Bishop has created a GoFundMe page to help honor his life and cover funeral service costs. For more information, click here.