TAMPA. Two people died this Thursday when the small plane they were traveling in crashed, shortly after taking off from Tampa Executive Airport, in the state of Florida, Hillsborough County authorities reported.
The device fell in a wooded area near the airport, northeast of downtown Tampa. Firefighters received the call around 8:16 Eastern Time (12:16 GMT) and found the plane engulfed in flames, which they put out in less than ten minutes before finding the two bodies inside.
The county Sheriff’s Office, which deployed deputies to guard the area until federal investigators arrived, described extensive damage to the device.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified the plane as a Lancair Evolution, a light single-engine four-seat aircraft.
The plane was scheduled to take off to Elizabeth City, in the state of North Carolina, and barely reached a height of just over 60 meters, according to public flight records consulted by the newspaper. Tampa Bay Times.
The authorities did not identify the deceased while waiting to notify their families. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the causes of the accident, on which a preliminary report is expected within 30 days.
Other accidents
In April the pilot of another small plane died that crashed into a housing development in Wesley Chapel, north of Tampa, and in June another died when his experimental plane crashed in Polk County, east of the city, after the device broke up in flight.
In June, another pilot died after his experimental plane crashed in Polk County, east of Tampa. In this accident, the aircraft broke up while in flight.
