3 dead after small plane that left Vero Beach airport crashes in Clearwater

VERO BEACH — National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived Friday morning at the site in Clearwater where a small plane that took off Thursday evening from the Vero Beach Regional Airport crashed into a mobile home park less than an hour later. Three people, the pilot and two on the ground, were killed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

On Saturday, authorities identified the three people killed: 86-year-old Martha Parry, 54-year-old Mary Ellen Pender of Treasure Island, and pilot Jemin Patel, 54, of Melbourne Beach.

The pilot reported an engine failure before the crash, officials said.

Database: See all plane crashes across the Treasure Coast since 2018

Four mobile homes caught fire in the Clearwater mobile home park after the crash, according to the Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department.

Prior to the crash, up to nine people had been inside the home, but only two were left and the moment of the crash.

The wreckage is expected to be removed Saturday by the NTSB. Clearwater police will remain at the site, they said.

Identities of the victims and their causes of death will be determined by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiners Office, and Clearwater police will release the identities once families have been notified, police said in a news release.

According to FlightAware, the plane left Vero Beach at 6:08 p.m. Thursday en route to Clearwater Air Park. It was in the air 58 minutes before it crashed at 7:06 p.m. Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department reported airport officials received a "mayday" distress call before the crash.

The plane, a single-engine Beechcraft V35B Bonanza, is registered to Control Data Inc. of Indianapolis, according to FAA aircraft registry records. Officials of Control Data Inc. could not be reached Friday.

Investigations consist of three areas, according to NTSB — pilot, aircraft and environmental factors.

Investigations typically look at:

• Flight path

• Communication with air traffic control

• Light

• Weather

• Maintenance of aircraft

• Valid license and flight experience

• The pilot's previous 72 hours of activity

• Anything that could have affected the pilot's ability to fly

• Witnesses

• Electronic devices, either on the plane or on the ground that could indicate what happened

• Any video of the flight, including doorbell cameras from near the crash scene

An initial report should be available within 30 days, but a detailed final report won't be completed for up to two years, according to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson.

Read the initial crash story and what we know so far.

Staff writer Nick Slater and The Sarasota Herald-Tribune contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach plane crashes in Clearwater, Florida, killing 3 people