MIRAMAR, Fla. – The heavy job of disassembling a small aircraft and hauling it away took several hours Thursday, just one day after the plane made an emergency hard landing on a field adjacent to a Miramar school.
“It was such a blessing, the pilot did such an excellent job, he knew what he did and nobody got hurt, I just give thanks,” said Paul Sculley, Miramar superintendent of parks.
The pilot was able to maneuver the fixed-wing single-engine plane between the bushes outside Coconut Palm Elementary School, located at 13601 Monarch Lakes Blvd., after first running into trouble in the air Wednesday afternoon.
The problem was engine failure, as reported on radio transmissions.
“55 Bravo Roger, you gonna be able to make it to the field?” an air traffic controller asked.
“I don’t think so, we’ll be able to make it to the field, so just gonna land right here,” the pilot replied.
The pilot was apparently on a training mission with a student.
The aircraft came down just inches away from a school play area. The pair took off from the North Perry Airport; trouble hit just four minutes into their practice flight. Several people called 911.
“Yeah, yeah, I was working at the park and I noticed the plane losing control and going down,” a caller told a dispatcher.
“A plane crashed in our field, back field,” another caller reported.
“Is anyone injured?” a dispatcher asked.
“As of now, no,” the caller responded.
This same plane, with the same exact tail number, was involved in another emergency landing two years ago when the pilot had to quickly turn around back to North Perry Airport.
That time, nobody got injured.
During Wednesday’s incident, damage was seen on the nose of the plane and its right wing.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.