Plane Crashes On Street

A World War II-era cargo plane sheared off treetops and narrowly missed homes and a major intersection as its crew guided it to a fiery landing on a road in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., June 13, 2005.

Neighborhood kids watch a DC-9 cargo plane burn and rescue workers help at the scene as they peek through a fence June 13, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue personnel work the scene of a DC-3 cargo plane crash June 13, 2005.

Fire Rescue personnel work at the crash scene.

Firefighters look over the wreckage of a World War II-era DC-3 cargo plane that crashed and burned after takeoff June 13, 2005, near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Miraculously, all three men aboard survived.

The wreckage sits in the middle of a residential street.

The DC-3 cargo flight en route to the Bahamas crashed shortly after takeoff Monday near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Pilot Charles Riggs waves as he is lifted into a waiting rescue truck at the scene June 13, 2005. Later, from his hospital bed, he said, "We're very thankful" that no one was killed in the crash.

One of three people on board the plane is wheeled away from the crash scene. The survivors were "sitting up and talking on their cell phones" hours after the crash, hospital spokeswoman Maria Soldani said. Two people on the ground also were hurt, one seriously. Co-pilot Charles Wirt told firefighters a fuel line broke and one of the plane's two engines was in flames before the crash, said Stephen McInerny, assistant chief of operations for Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.

The plane's left wing did the most damage, uprooting trees and flinging broken trunks and branches into vehicles, homes and apartments; several roofs were hit.

The plane narrowly missed a major intersection, but pilot Riggs said they did not see that as they aimed for the street. "It flew perfectly right until we impacted the tree and then the ground," he said.

The tail section of a DC-3 cargo plane is surrounded by smoke after the plane crashed and burned.

A firefighter changes his Scott air pack as a World War II-era cargo plane burns June 13, 2005, in the middle of a street in a residential neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale.

Some residents were evacuated and the Red Cross offered shelter for the night. "It looks like damage you would see after a hurricane or a localized tornado," said assistant fire chief McInerny.

The remains of a DC-3 cargo plane are seen after the plane crashed and burned on a residential street June 13, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The pilot Charles Riggs, co-pilot Charles Wirt, and passenger Hector Espinoza were in fair condition at Holy Cross Hospital.

A wing and engine of a World War II-era DC-3 cargo plane that crashed and burned after takeoff lies on a residential street June 13, 2005, near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.