Plane crash at Lantana airport in Palm Beach County: 2 die when aircraft crashes, catches fire

Maya Washburn, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
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A single-engine Diamond DA40 plane crashed on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Palm Beach County Park Airport near Lantana, killing both people inside. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the wreck, which took place at about 9:25 p.m.
A single-engine Diamond DA40 plane crashed on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at Palm Beach County Park Airport near Lantana, killing both people inside. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the wreck, which took place at about 9:25 p.m.

LANTANA — Two men died Sunday night when a small plane crashed and caught fire at Palm Beach County Park Airport near Lantana, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said.

Officials have not identified the men aboard the plan who died. Paramedics declared them dead at the scene.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that the plane was a single-engine Diamond DA40 and that it crashed shortly after taking off from the airport, off Lantana Road near Congress Avenue about 9:25 p.m. The two people were the only ones on board. Crews arrived minutes later and quickly extinguished the fire.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, with the NTSB leading the probe. FAA investigators arrived Monday morning to assess the remnants of the plane, left crumpled by the crash's impact. The FAA's initial report, released Monday, said only that "unknown circumstances" caused the wreck.

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Four-seat plane made several stops en route to Florida

The tail number identified the plane as belonging to Diamond Aircraft Sales of Kentucky LLC in Henderson, Ky., a city along the Ohio River opposite Evansville, Ind.

According to the aviation website FlightAware, the four-seat plane traveled between multiple airports Sunday.

  • It took off from Henderson at 11:58 a.m. ET, then landed in Pine Mountain, Ga., at 2:39 p.m.

  • It then flew to Williston, Fla., southwest of Gainesville, leaving at 4:30 p.m. and landing at 6:40 p.m.

  • It left Williston for Lantana at 7:23 p.m.

  • Its destination after Lantana was not immediately known.

The weather around that time was mild with no rain and light southeast winds not reaching over 8 mph, Will Redman, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Monday.

Airport sees hundreds of flights daily, mostly small planes, helicopters

Six miles south of Palm Beach International Airport, the Lantana site is a popular destination for small planes, often by people traveling to and from Palm Beach County from other states. It’s one of four smaller airports the county operates.

It typically logs hundreds of flights a day, mostly from small planes and helicopters. Its six runways, in a World War II-era design, are set up in an A shape, each roughly 3,400 feet long.

Before Sunday night, the most recent fatal crash at the Lantana airport took place in January 2021, when a 24-year-old man’s plane crashed into the waters off the Boynton Inlet after taking off.

Maya Washburn is a reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@gannett.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Plane crash in Palm Beach County: 2 die aircraft crashes on takeoff