The two occupants of a small plane that crashed into a building in New Hampshire were killed, and there was a significant ground fire as a result, according to police.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that a single-engine Beechcraft Sierra plane had collided with a building on Friday night north of Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene, New Hampshire. On their Facebook page, city officials stated that no one was hurt in the jet’s impact with the structure, but “those on the plane have perished.”
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“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates,” the FAA said.
Keene Mayor George Hansel told The Associated Press that two passengers on the plane perished, but their identities have not yet been released. According to him, the plane struck a two-story barn that was attached to a complex of multi-family apartments. Due to the ensuing fire, all eight residents of the apartment complex had to leave, and they have since been moved.
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The accident’s cause is still under investigation.
“We are very fortunate in some ways that the plane didn’t hit a part of the building where people were,” he said. “This obviously could have been much worse but any loss of life is a tragedy.”
Shaughn Calkins told WMUR-TV that he saw the fire as he was driving.
“We were probably close to quarter of a mile away, and you could feel the heat from the fire,” Calkins said. “It was billowing, so it was a big fire.”
