NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Officials in New Smyrna Beach said a plane crashed into a pasture Wednesday.
The crash happened off Tumblin Drive less than a mile west of the airport.
Fire Rescue confirmed that the pilot of the twin-engine Cessna 337 died. No one else was on board the plane.
"The
engine sounded normal," said witness Rich Chapman. "He never cut back
on the engine. He sounded wide open. I jumped the fence, went over and
found the body. He was deceased."
The pilot reported a mayday before the plane crashed and broke apart, authorities said.
The plane had taken off from the airport when it went down a short time later near the city's sports complex.
"The
plane was coming over our backyard here and the plane was sideways
through the trees," said witness Pat Chapman. "It clipped the top of
this tree, went over the power line and hit the top of that big rotten
pine over there and just disintegrated. It was like it was made of
balsa wood when it hit the ground."
The
Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety
Board will be called in to investigate the cause of the crash.
WESH