Three people have been killed and one person injured when a small plane crashed into a car near Boca Raton Airport in Florida. The six-seat Cessna 310R, which had three people on board, was due to fly from the airport at 10am local time and land at Tallahassee in the north of the state at 1.02pm.
It spent around 20 minutes circling above Boca Raton, apparently trying to return to the airport, before crashing around 10.20am, according to air traffic data from Flightradar24. Local media said the aircraft had reported mechanical issues after take-off.
“The three souls on board the plane did not survive. One person on the ground was transported [to] a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries,” Boca Raton Fire Rescue service said in a statement.
One official at the scene told local media that the plane had crashed into a car which it pushed onto nearby railway tracks.
Footage showed smoke billowing from several fires at the side of a highway lined with palm trees.
Boca Raton Police said the N Military Trail was closed between NW 19th St and Butts Rd “due to a small aircraft crash”. It added that the I-95 overpass was also and urged people to “avoid the area”.
The crash comes hours after a Spanish family of five was killed in a helicopter crash on Thursday.
The aircraft plunged into the Hudson river during a New York skyline sightseeing tour to celebrate one of the children’s birthdays.
Its 36-year-old pilot, who was also killed, has not been identified.
