image: CBS Philly
A Beechcraft A36 Bonanza crashed into a house in Plainville, Massachusetts, about 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, killing two adults and a child on board the airplane. The four residents of the house, a couple and two children, escaped unharmed, but their two-story Colonial home in a suburb about 30 miles from Boston was destroyed by fire. FAA officials said the aircraft had departed from Lancaster Airport in Pennsylvania and was headed for Norwood Airport in Massachusetts, about 20 miles from the crash site. The pilot told ATC he was in trouble, minutes before the crash. “I need help,” he said. “The engine is sputtering … we’re in IMC.” ATC tried to steer him to the nearby interstate for an emergency landing.
An air traffic controller first gave the pilot vectors to head toward North Central Airport, in Smithfield, Rhode Island, about 7 miles away, but the pilot said he was unable to maintain altitude. The controller then steered him toward the I-495 freeway, which was about a mile away. Neighbors said they could hear the engine cutting in and out as the aircraft descended. The NTSB is investigating.
