Several Dead After Plane Crashes Into Mobile Home Park

A small plane crashed at a Florida mobile home park on Thursday, killing several people aboard the plane and in one home, fire officials said. The pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 reported an engine failure shortly before the aircraft went down at about 7pm, the Federal Aviation Administration reported. It crashed in the Bayside Waters mobile home park in Clearwater, hitting one home and leaving at least three homes with fire damage, although the flames were quickly doused, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said at a news conference. "The aircraft was found in the one structure," Ehlers said.

Ehlers didn't give the exact number of people killed, saying only that several people aboard the plane and in a home died, the AP reports. The FAA said it wasn't clear how many people were on the plane. Ehlers said the pilot reported an emergency to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport shortly before the plane went off radar about 3 miles north of a runway. The airport is about 7 miles southeast of Clearwater. Federal investigators will examine the scene, authorities said. No one was killed in the other nearby mobile homes that were damaged but not directly hit, CNN reports.

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