Miramar Student Pilot Killed In Fiery Small Plane Crash
MIRAMAR (CBSMiami) - A student pilot died Tuesday morning in a fiery crash in Miramar.
The Piper PA-34 took off from North Perry Airport around 9 a.m, according to the FAA.
They said the pilot told air traffic controllers that he was attempting to return to the airport when the aircraft went down.
"Our understanding is that there were mechanical issues and the plane was attempting to return to North Perry Airport, was not able to make it to the airport, and was attempting to land on Pembroke road," said Miramar police spokeswoman Tania Rues.
The pilot, identified as 25-year-old Mark Daniel Scott from Miramar, clipped a power line in Harbor Cove when he tried to land on the road.
WATCH: PLANE CLIP POWER LINE. VIDEO COURTESY OF CBS4 VIEWER ALAN BIRMAHER
Moments later the plane crashed next to a shopping plaza at Pembroke Road and Hiatus Road and was engulfed in flames.
WATCH: PLANE CRASH AFTERMATH VIDEO FROM CBS4 VIEWER RUSSELL EMERY
Miramar police said there were two men on board, Scott and a flight instructor. Scott did not survive. The flight instructor was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood with serious injuries.
A third person, who was on the ground, was injured by debris. He was treated by Miramar Fire-Rescue for his injuries and released at the scene.
Area residents said as the pilot tried to land, the plane flew dangerously low over one neighborhood.
"It came across the top of my neighbor's house, I came out to see it and evidently next thing I saw was the smoke over there," said Deborah Safko.
Others say they heard the explosion, then saw the huge flames.
"I heard something very loud, like boom, something. and I looked out the window and there was a lot of smoke in the air," said Cori Gomez.
According to investigators, this was a training flight from Wayman Aviation Academy at North Perry airport.
"This morning we had a tragic accident," said Eddy Luy, Vice President of the Wayman Aviation Academy. "We had a senior student, just about to complete his training with us and an experienced instructor flying out this morning. They had some trouble and followed all the emergency procedures. It seems like chance was not with them this morning."
"The instructor is in stable condition and hopefully will be just fine. Our thoughts are with the student pilot's family, he did not make it" he added.
Luy said Scott was at the very end of his training and described him as being a smart, dedicated aviator.
FPL said when the plane clipped the powerline, 2,500 customers lost electricity. They said thanks to their smart grid technology, approximately 1,700 had it restored in ten minutes. The remaining 800 had their power restored within 50 minutes.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
