Small plane crashes on street near Beverly, Massachusetts airport leaving 1 dead
One man was killed and another critically hurt when a small plane crashed onto a street in Beverly, Massachusetts Thursday morning. It happened around 8:45 a.m. on Sam Fonzo Drive in an industrial park near Beverly Regional Airport.
Beverly Police said one man died in the crash and a second man was rushed by medical helicopter to a hospital in critical condition. Their names have not been made public. No one on the ground was hurt.
Beverly plane crash investigation
Police said it appears the pilot was attempting to take off when the plane crashed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the plane had just left Beverly and was heading to Ticonderoga Municipal Airport, which is about 100 miles north of Albany, New York.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the plane was a Mooney M20F, a fixed wing, four-seat aircraft.
The NSTB said a witness at the airport saw a puff of smoke before the plane went down, possibly an indication of some sort of engine failure, and a "gradual left hand descending turn" before crashing shortly afterward.
"The preliminary information we have is the plane crashed under unknown circumstances," the NTSB said in a statement. An NTSB investigator arrived on the scene Thursday afternoon.
"Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation," the agency said. The NTSB investigator said a preliminary report should be out in about two weeks.
Search for Beverly plane crash video
"It's a holiday, there's not a lot of businesses open right now. We're going to go through footage when we can with the various businesses when they open, bring some people in and then, obviously, do some follow up tomorrow," Beverly Police Chief John Lelacheur told reporters.
Video from the scene showed the heavily damaged plane in two pieces. One large portion was partially in the road, with a trail of debris near it. That part of the plane came to a rest up against a pole near the sidewalk. The second piece of the plane was in the tree line nearby.
Beverly is a city in Essex County with a population of about 42,000. It's on the North Shore of Massachusetts, about 23 miles from Boston.
Beverly Regional Airport provides services to private, business and corporate aircrafts, according its .
