Melbourne Airplane Crash - A plane crashed near the runway at Melbourne Orlando International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
Hammond kitchens and bath designer J.P. McMenamy was working in his office Sunday afternoon when he heard a loud noise and the lights went out.
Melbourne Airplane Crash
McMenamy is walking outside—shocked to see the face of a Piper PA-28 lying on the concrete behind the loading dock of the Daltile Sales Center.
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"The plane has crashed!" I screamed and ran into the office. Everyone ran from the tile place (Goodman Distribution) and Hammond Kitchens,” McMenamy said.
The single-engine plane clipped a utility pole, crashed and went down shortly before 3 p.m. en route to Melbourne Orlando Airport for landing.
McMenamy said dozens of workers from nearby industries along Silver Sands Drive fled the leaking plane. Eight to 10 people crawled under the wing to lift the plane, and McMenamy said two Hammond Kitchens employees pulled the injured pilot from the cockpit.
Crews then used tarps to shield them from the afternoon sun while waiting for first responders to arrive.
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"It was a very brave act by everyday citizens in a very dangerous situation," West Melbourne Police Sgt. Graig Erenstoft said.
West Melbourne Police, Melbourne Police, Airport Police, Brevard County Fire and Melbourne Fire Department responded to the crash. The plane went west of Cumberland Farms.
The National Safety Council and the Federal Aviation Administration are now investigating the crash. The damaged Piper PA-28 was towed to airport property by the truck, airport spokesman Rob Himmler said.
According to the first report, Ehrenstoft said the plane left Okeechobee at 2:17 p.m. Departure to Melbourne Airport on Tuesday.
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The pilot was alone on the plane and there were no other injuries. But based on some of the pilot's statements after the plane took off, McMenamy said rescuers feared there was a passenger in the lead.
"I was crawling under the car trying to find someone inside. So when it hit the utility pole, did somebody get thrown?" McMenamy remembers.
"We started looking for weeds, dead trees, trees, roofs, everything. So we're doing all of that before the police come and the fire department," he said.
Rick Neale is a reporter for the South Brevard Watchdog in FLORIDA TODAY (Click here for a full story.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or Neale at the Airport.
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A small single-engine plane crashed on approach to landing at Melbourne's Orlando International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
The pilot was taken to a local hospital in a serious and stable condition, West Melbourne Police Sgt. Graig Erenstoft said.
No one else was on the plane and there were no other injuries, Ehrenstoft said. He did not say the plane was injured.
The blue-and-white plane went down just before 3 a.m. A short walk from Silver Sands Drive in an industrial area west of Wickham and Ellis Roads.
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"We are the Distributing Co.
"And then people over there, people over there, people over there running to pick up the plane," Borens said, pointing to the buildings near Silver Sands Drive.
"A lot of people helped get the pilot out and out of the way. Emergency crews arrived within a minute."
West Melbourne Police, Melbourne Police, Airport Police, Brevard County Fire and Melbourne Fire Rescue attended the scene. Officers cordoned off the scene of the accident with yellow tape and blocked traffic and pedestrians.
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"Right now we're waiting for the (National Transportation Safety Board) and (Federal Aviation Administration) to respond from here," Ehrenstoft said at a news conference near the crash site.
According to the first report, Ehrenstoft said the plane left Okeechobee at 2:17 p.m. Departure to Melbourne Airport on Tuesday.
Rick Neale is a reporter for the South Brevard Watch in FLORIDA TODAY (click here for more of his stories.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or @rneale. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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