‘IMMEDIATE FIREBALL:' Witnesses describe Lancaster County plane crash scene

Yahoo

10-03-2025

MANHEIM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) — Witnesses described an 'immediate fireball' when an airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from Lancaster Airport Sunday afternoon.
Brian Pipkin told The Associated Press he had seen the plane take off. Shortly after, it began a turn.
'And then it went down nose first,' he told the AP. 'There was an immediate fireball.'
Private plane crashes into retirement community parking lot near Lancaster Airport
Thick, black smoke could be seen for miles around, and first responders, arriving within minutes of dispatch, encountered the Beechcraft Bonanza and at least five cars engulfed in flames.
Pipkin told the AP 'it was so smoky and it was so hot.'
Only the five people aboard the airplane were injured, Manheim Township officials said in a Sunday evening press conference. No bystanders on the ground were hurt, and the Brethren Village structures were spared damage.
'The fact that we have a plane crash where everybody survives and nobody on the ground is hurt is a wonderful thing,' Manheim Township Police Chief Duane Fisher added. 'Anytime you have transportation, you always have risk when people are moving, but having this type of ending so far is a great day for us.'
'I feel very, very blessed that it didn't hit any buildings at Brethren Village,' Sandy Smith, a resident at Brethren Village told abc27's Seth Kaplan. 'I hope that the passengers in the airplane survive and be well.'
Another resident said she came outside to see the wreckage.
'I didn't hear it before that, I didn't know about it before that, I just came up there and there it was,' Linda Landis-Bohannon said. '[Firefighters] were putting foam on. I saw burned cars and I saw foam being put on them.'
Another witness described the crash as a 'scary situation' but it would not deter him from flying.
'I don't fear flying, I feel that the people that fly planes are very certified and know what they're doing,' Mark Mousley told abc27's McKenzie Jarrell.
The plane crash remains under investigation and authorities from the Federal Aviation Administration are en-route. The National Transportation Safety Board said they do not plan to send an investigator and will work with the FAA.
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