A SMALL plane has crashed and left one person dead and another critically injured near Boston.
The Mooney M20 aircraft crashed on a street close to Beverly Regional Airport in Massachusetts at around 8.45am on Thursday.
Two men were inside the aircraft that crashed on Sam Fonzo Drive, just outside the Beverly Regional Airport, according to the Beverly police and fire departments.
One man was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was airlifted to a hospital, authorities said.
The names of the pilot and passenger have not been made public.
No one on the ground was injured.
The reported fixed-wing aircraft with four seats appeared to be badly damaged – and was resting against a utility pole.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said: “The preliminary information we have is the plane crashed under unknown circumstances.”
It added: “Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft.
“The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.”
The NTSB investigator said a preliminary report would likely be out in two weeks’ time.
Witnesses told WBZ-TV that they saw a puff of smoke before the plane came tumbling down.
This could be a sign of an engine failure.
Police Chief John Lelacheur told the TV channel: “It’s a holiday [Juneteenth], there’s not a lot of businesses open right now.
“We’re going to go through footage when we can with the various businesses when they open, bring some people in and then, obviously, do some follow up tomorrow.”
The plane, which departed from Beverly, was flying to Ticonderoga Municipal Airport – around 100 miles north of Albany, New York, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Beverly is a suburb of Boston with a population of over 42,000 people.
It comes as five people died after two helicopters crashed into each other in Finland in May.
The helicopters had reportedly taken off from Estonia, and were on their way to an aviation event.
Flight tracking data showed the aircraft flying closely together for most of their journey.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14518644/light-plane-crashes-boston/