Pilot killed when plane crashes into home, NC officials say. Three escape fiery scene
A pilot died when a plane crashed into an occupied home near the North Carolina coast, officials said.
Three people inside the home managed to escape the fiery scene on Sunday, June 25, the Southport Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post.
The single-engine plane crashed after 4 p.m. in the Southport area, near the popular vacation destination of Oak Island and roughly 30 miles southwest of Wilmington. It happened after the aircraft took off from nearby Cape Fear Regional Jetport, officials said.
The pilot killed in the crash was the only person on the plane when it hit the home. Though no one on the ground was injured, one household was displaced, according to firefighters and the Federal Aviation Administration.
When first responders arrived, officials said, “the plane was fully engulfed in flames and the exterior of the structure was on fire as well.” It took crews about 15 minutes to contain the blaze, the fire department wrote.
The FAA is investigating after the plane went down “under unknown circumstances,” according to its website and preliminary information shared with McClatchy News in an email.
The National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating the crash, which involved a small Mooney M20 plane.
The Southport Fire Department, which didn’t identify the pilot in its Facebook post, didn’t immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on June 26.
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Pilot killed when plane crashes into home, NC officials say. Three escape fiery scene."
