1 person dies after plane crashes into building in St. Lucie County
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — One person is dead and one person taken to a hospital Thursday following a plane crash in the western portion of the county, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
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Calls to 911 came in about 12:04 p.m. Thursday regarding a plane crash near Orange Avenue and Sneed Road, Sheriff Ken Mascara stated on social media.
Deputies and St. Lucie County Fire District crews arrived on private property in the 20000 block of Southern Star Drive, south of Orange Avenue. They found two people in a four-seat Piper plane.
“One was transported to a local hospital and the other passed away on scene due to his injuries,” Mascara said.
He said the plane went through the roof of a large storage-type building on the property.
The area is largely rural and there's a handful of homes. The property is part of the Southern Star Stables Homeowners' Association, according to Sunbiz.org.
Eyewitness account
Homeowners Association treasurer Betty Jones, 70, who lives in a home on the property, said the plane crashed into a large metal structure where an RV in kept.
She was cleaning off a riding mower to bring back to the building.
“I heard the plane stall, and I thought it was somebody doing stunts, because we get a lot of little planes out here,” Jones said. “I walked out to look, and watched it crash into our building.”
It was scary, she said, and it happened quickly.
“It actually went through the roof of the building and the roof of the RV and into the RV,” Jones said.
Jones said she yelled for her husband, as she called 911.
“He said, ‘look out, there's still pieces falling,'” Jones said. “So more pieces fell after it crashed into the building.”
She recalled a loud crash as the plane impacted the building.
“I did not hear any explosion, and thank God there was no fire,” Jones said.
Sheriff’s and fire officials quickly filled the field by her home, she said.
Jones said a neighbor is a firefighter, who wasn’t on duty at the time, and ran over to try to help.
The survivor was flown out from her property via helicopter, she said.
“It was something you would see on TV,” Jones said.
Mascara said the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of investigating the crash.
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-692-8936. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: The crash happened in the area of Orange Avenue and Sneed Road
