Plane Crash Sends 5 To Hospital In Lancaster County

MANHEIM TOWNSHIP, PA — A small private plane crashed Sunday and burst into flames in the parking lot of a retirement community in Manheim Township, sending all five people on board to the hospital, authorities said.

The six-seater Beechcraft Bonanza crashed around 3:15 p.m. on the property of the Brethren Village retirement community after taking off from nearby Lancaster Airport, according to Manheim Township Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Scott Little, who addressed the media in a press conference streamed on YouTube by WNEP.

As of early Sunday evening, there were no fatalities, according to Manheim Township Chief of Police Duane Fisher.

Brian Pipkin was driving nearby when he noticed the plane climbing before it suddenly veered to the left.

"And then it went down nose first," he told The Associated Press. "There was an immediate fireball."

Pipkin called 911 and then drove to the crash site, where he recorded video of black smoke billowing from the plane's mangled wreckage and multiple cars engulfed in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village. He said the plane narrowly missed hitting a three-story building at the sprawling retirement community about 75 miles west of Philadelphia.

There was no structural damage to Brethren Village but about a dozen vehicles were damaged, five severely, authorities said at the press conference. No one was hurt on the ground, according to Little.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said state police were on the ground assisting local first responders. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the incident.

The crash comes about a month after seven people were killed when an air ambulance burst into flames after crashing onto a busy Philadelphia street.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.