Plane with five aboard crashes near retirement community

A small plane crashed in a retirement community parking lot in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, injuring all five people on board and damaging about a dozen vehicles. The accident occurred at the Brethren Village Retirement Community in Manheim Township at approximately 3:18 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Manheim Township Fire Chief Scott Little stated that there were five people on board the aircraft, all of whom were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Approximately a dozen vehicles were damaged, with five sustaining "significant" damage. Little added that the retirement community's buildings did not suffer structural damage, and no one on the ground was injured.

Video from the scene showed the wreckage of the plane engulfed in flames and thick smoke. Little said the fire had been extinguished with "a lot of water." Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on social media X that Pennsylvania State Police were "on-site assisting local first responders," adding, "All commonwealth resources are available for the ongoing rescue operation."

An eyewitness reported that the plane crashed shortly after takeoff. "It got fairly high, but then it started banking to the left, and all of a sudden, it nosedived while continuing to turn left," Bryan Pipkin told CNN.

Pipkin said he immediately rushed to the retirement center's parking lot and saw the plane's cockpit engulfed in flames. He described the intense heat as "like opening an oven set to 500 degrees, and a blast of heat just hits you." "It was so hot," he said. "I was getting closer and closer, praying to God there wouldn't be an explosion."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that it will investigate the crash. This follows a devastating mid-air collision in January and a series of plane crashes across the country. On January 31, in Philadelphia, a medical rescue plane crashed, killing all six people on board and one person on the ground. The pilot had reported an open cargo door in radio communications with air traffic controllers. Controllers instructed the pilot to "pull up" before the plane crashed.

It is reported that the plane was originally scheduled to depart from Lancaster Airport, which is located north of the crash site, with its destination being Springfield, Ohio. This report has been updated with additional information.