Small Plane Slams Into Fort Lauderdale Condo Building

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- A pilot was killed Friday when a small banner plane slammed into an upper floor of a high-rise Fort Lauderdale condominium building steps away from the beach. The incident happened around 11:50 a.m.

"At this time there was only one individual that was on the aircraft and unfortunately that individual did succumb to the injuries of the incident," an officer with Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue told reporters at the scene.

He said the airplane crashed between the 16th and 17th floors of the building. Wreckage from the bright yellow plane could be seen on a lower pool deck of the condominium building at 3015 N. Ocean Blvd. The building and the pool deck were under construction at the time, but people were inside.

Kathleen Bergen of the Federal Aviation Administration told Patch that the Piper PA-25 aircraft took off from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines and was towing an advertising banner.

"The FAA is investigating and the NTSB will determine probable cause of the accident," she said.

The officer with Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue said that the crash left a "large hole" in the side of the building.

"At the time of the incident the building was under construction, however it was occupied by the individuals that reside inside the building," the Fire-Rescue officer told reporters. "All the individuals inside the building were quickly evacuated from the structure while we contained the incident that was on the pool deck area."

He said firefighters laid down a foam blanket to prevent flames from erupting around the crash site.

ABC's "World News Tonight" reported that the same plane suffered an engine failure in 2015 that caused the pilot to make an emergency landing in California's Los Angeles River.

Fort Lauderdale police asked motorists to avoid the area for hours Friday but later said that all roads had reopened.