Mar 10 (CNN/GNA) – A small plane crashed into the parking lot at a retirement community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Sunday afternoon, injuring the five people aboard and damaging around a dozen vehicles, according to local authorities.
The plane, a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, crashed around 3:18 p.m. ET on the property of Brethren Village retirement community in Manheim Township, Scott Little, the chief of Manheim Township Fire, said at a Sunday evening news conference. Five people were on board and were transported to hospitals, according to Little.
All five were initially taken to Lancaster General Hospital and three were transferred to the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to a spokesperson for Lancaster General Hospital. The other two patients were treated and released, the spokesperson said.
About a dozen cars were damaged, five “severely,” officials said. There was no structural damage to the retirement community building and no one on the ground was injured, Little said.
Video of the scene shows the wreckage of the plane engulfed in flames and dark smoke. The fire has since been put out using “copious amounts of water,” according to Little.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate the crash, which comes after a devastating midair collision in January and a string of plane crashes across the country. In Philadelphia, all six passengers and one person on the ground were killed when a medical evacuation jet crashed on January 31.
The National Transportation Safety Board told CNN it is also opening an investigation and will evaluate the documentation and initial examination gathered by FAA investigators at the crash site.
The pilot reported the plane had an open door, in a radio conversation with an air traffic controller. The controller instructed the pilot to “pull up” moments before the crash.
GNA/CNN