Last Updated: Saturday, 5:11 p.m.
Late Saturday Afternoon Update– The Florida Highway Patrol turned over the investigation of Friday’s plane crash in Semionole Woods to officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, who always conduct crash investigations after the initial work of first responders and police. The NTSB’s investigation can take months to determine the cause of the crash. Sturday’s work was in its most preliminary stages, at the scene of the crash.
“I don’t have a whole lot to fill you in as far as what we’ve seen so far,” Terry Duprie, the NTSB investigator in charge, said during a brief news conference this afternoon in front of the wrecked home on Utica Path. “You can see the scene behind me here, we’re still going through it, we’ve completed some interviews, we’ve done some walkaround, documentation, like I mentioned this morning, we want to capture all the perishable evidence, and that’s what we’re attempting to do now and throughout the day, and will continue to do so. Later this afternoon we’ll be attempting to recover what’s remaining of the plane, to include the engine, the propeller, and the pieces that didn’t get incinerated.”
Duprie was joined by senior investigators Paul Cox and Patrick Murray, along with air safety investigators from Continental Motors and Hawker Beachcraft were at the scene.
“You can see it’s a small area, it was a very high, intense-heat fire,” Duprie continued. “So a lot of the aircraft was destroyed. It makes it difficult to try and, you know, reconstruct this and put everything back together.” Investigators will rely on traffic control information, and calls with the pilot before the crash. In about 10 days, the NTSB will publish its initial report on the crash.
“Hopefully we’ll do everything that we can to come up with some safety recommendations to keep something like this from happening again,” Duprie said.
The wreckage should be removed by later today. It will be stored temporarily at the Flagler County Airport, then to Continental Motors for an “engine tear-down” in Mobile, Alabama, for more thorough reconstructive analysis.
Susan Crockett, the homeowner at 22 Utica Path who was in the house when the plane crashed into it, and escaped the blaze through a window, also spoke with reporters late Saturday afternoon.
“As you can all see,” Crockett said, “that’s amazing, and I got out without a scratch. A little bruise from taking a tumble through the window, but other than that I’m fine, I’m blessed. Truly God was with me, there’s no way anyone else should have got out of there. God had other plans for me, made sure that I got out. Couldn’t stop the plane, but he could stop me, because I was headed to that exact spot where the plane crashed.”
Crockett said she’d been getting ready to leave to run some errands when the plane crashed. “I had to really think about, like, am I in a movie? Because I didn’t know what was going on, I’m on the phone with my daughter and there’s a plane in the middle of my house, and then it just–reaction. Planes, fire, close the door, get out of the room. When I went to go out the back window, there was fire everywhere, so I was like, OK, go back to the door, see if I can go out that way. When I opened the bedroom door, flames came in, and I knew I couldn’t go out that way. I went back to the window and I just said, take my chances with the fire that was outside. I just ran out and jumped out and ran around to the front.”
She was alone in the house at that point, though just a few days earlier one of her daughter, who’d been home for the holidays, had gone back to college early, otherwise she might have been sleeping on the bed that was charred. Another daughter had not come to visit that day. She also has a grandson who visits frequently, standing in front of the television to watch “Dora the Explorer.” The television is now “a glob of metal,” Crockett said. She has three daughters, who were with her today: Jasmine, Jessica and Jocelyn.
Almost the entirety of the house has been demolished. For all the harrowing moments between the plane, the fire and the uncertainty, Crockett said she finally did sleep Friday night, “the time I did sleep,” and did so well. But she doesn’t know how to proceed: her belongings, down to her clothes, have been wiped out. Her “church family” (Mount Calvary Baptist Church) has helped her through to this point, though she could not even move her car out of the driveway. The car survived the fire, but the keys did not: they were in the house, so Crockett can’t drive the car away just yet.
Plane Carrying 3 People Crashes Into Home on Utica Path, Killing All Aboard
January 4–A plane traveling from Fort Pierce, Fla., to Knoxville, Tenn., with three people on board crashed into a house at 22 Utica Path off Seminole Woods Blvd. in Palm Coast shortly after 2 p.m. this afternoon. The homeowner was in the house at the time of the crash, but was uninjured, and was catching her breath minutes after the crash in a neighbor’s garage across the street. But three occupants of the plane are dead.
The Federal Aviation Authority issued the following statement: “A BE35 aircraft enroute to Downtown Island Airport in Knoxville, TN, reported a mechanical problem and was diverting to Flagler County Airport in FL. Plane crashed one mile east of airport into a house. Three persons on board.”
All three were confirmed dead. There had been earlier reports that five or four people had been on board, and by later afternoon there remained some uncertainty about a fourth passenger. But reports of additional passengers proved unfounded.
The plane–registered as N375B–was owned since 2008 by Michael Anders, who was piloting it when it crashed. Anders marked his 58th birthday the very day of the crash. He was a Spanish teacher at Clinton County High School in Albany, Kentucky, where he lived in an airport community, at Spring Creek Airport. He was divorced, and had two daughters. His next-of-kin were informed of the his death overnight.
Anders was traveling with Duane L. Shaw, a 59-year-old friend from Albany, and the friend’s girlfriend, Charisse Peoples, 42. The trio had gone to the Virgin Islands to house-sit a house over the Christmas holidays.
FAA officials arrived at the scene around 7 p.m., with more arriving by 10 p.m. The bodies of the victims were about to be removed after 8 p.m. The removal was not completed until about 11:30 p.m., when John’s Towing, the wrecking service, was called in to lift the planes engine, which had pinned down the legs of one of the plane’s occupants.
The Beachcraft Bonanza BE35 is a fixed-wing single-engine general aviation aircraft that seats four people (its engine is a Cont Motor, O-470 series). It has a cruising speed of 131 miles per hour. Its last certification was issued in July 2008.
Reporters were briefly allowed near the cordoned off scene, then moved out again as the smoke had cleared and Florida Highway Patrol investigators, leading the crash investigations, were preparing for the removal of the bodies from the wreckage. But that will not take place until officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, who were due at the scene by early evening, had analyzed and photographed the scene. The FHP is in charge of the initial phase of the crash investigation. The NTSB is in charge of analyzing the causes of the crash.
The house was fully engulfed in flames. The plane struck the house as it was approaching Flagler County Airport from the east. The plane had already radioed its troubles on the approach, citing vibrations and smoke in the cockpit. It also hit bad weather.
Several units of Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Palm Coast Fire Department had been placed on alert, and several had already staged at the entrance to the airport, in the Hijackers parking lot, as the plane was approaching from more than 15 miles away, some 10 minutes before the crash.
The plane radioed its conditions to the flight tower. It crashed less than a mile away from its landing spot, in a wooded subdivision juist east of the runway. It isn’t known right now what type of plane it was.
The homeowner, Suzanne Crockett, was apparently in the house when it crashed, but survived unscathed, and was seen being comforted by neighbors and authorities as she spoke on the phone to reassure family and friends, repeating over and over, “I’m OK, I’m OK.” She was visibly shaken, and shaking, beneath a blanket someone had draped over her. She was taken to the hospital and released.
“My wife was home with the baby, seven weeks old,” said Tim Hornsby, when the plane struck the house next door, “and frightened her off the couch. Called me at work, and I rushed home. She was pretty frantic, pretty distraught, had the baby in her hands, and had to be evacuated from the house.” She went to a friend’s house, distressed, but otherwise fine. Hornsby, who works at a hospital, didn’t know Crockett well, but had once helped her when she dealt with an aggressive dog, and knows her as “a pleasant person” and a “nice neighbor.”
The plane was built in 1957. “The crew reported that their engine wash shaking violently prior to the crash,” an FHP spokesperson said. The last transmission had included mention of smoke.
At 3:05, another emergency call went out from the flight tower about a plane low on fuel, but that plane soon landed safely.
The plane that crashed had reported trouble when it entered Daytona Beach’s air space. The plane had originally been believed to have taken off from Daytona Beach, but in fact had taken off from Fort Pierce. As of 3:30 p.m., three of its occupants were confirmed dead. A fourth, if on board, was still being searched for, according to a Florida Highway Patrol investigator at the scene. “Three is what we know based on what we see at the scene,” the FHP spokesman said.
Only portions of the wing remained, according FHP. “It looks like it was a pretty steep descent and it went right into the roof,” the FHP spokesman, Lt. Justin Asbery, said, “and you don’t see much tree damage right around the house, so that would indicate it was a pretty steep descent.”
Charlie Ericksen, the Flagler County commissioner, was escorted through the crash zone at about 3:30 p.m., after the fire was out, and said he saw “just a destroyed roof area with smoke still coming out of it, scattered debris. All we saw was the tail section sticking out of the roof.”
rrr says
Flagler Live. You did it again. You broke this story and as always covering it well. Excellent job. I’m glad the lady that lived there is ok but it occupants of the plane need our prayers..
Umm says
I was at HighJackers. I witnessed the entire thing happen. It was gut wrenching. One minute you saw the plane ready to land, the next minute “poof” it was gone and all you saw was a huge cloud of black smoke. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. Great job to all of the emergency responders, and a huge thank you.
Initialjoe says
I am glad that the occupant of the house escaped unscathed. She was definitely in the right place at the right time. My thoughts and prayers go out to the passengers and their families.
Geezer says
Oh my, a bleak day replete with tragedy. I sure am glad that the homeowner is OK.
Deep South says
Tragic The plane was 56 years old, last time certified inspected 5 years a go. I’m glad Ms.Crockett, the homeowner is ok. The house can be replaced. I’m thinkin’ would I fly in a a plane that old ?
Kevin says
The age of the plane has nothing to do with it. With the proper maintenance, inspection and replace of the components at their proper time, it could fly forever.
You are also misinformed about the certification time of 5 years. That is simply the last time the aircraft was registered. It was 7/30/2008 and is good until 3/31/2012 according to FAA records. The only way to determine when it was inspected last would be to look at the log book. Most aircraft require at least an annual inspection by a certified mechanic.
NortonSmitty says
The Beechcraft Bonanza has been an outstanding airplane since its’ inception in 1947. It was distinguished by its V tail and was fast, efficient and safe. It was the dream airplane for about every pilot form the start of their training.
At the risk of speculation, the plane seems to have stalled on approach due to the steep angle of descent. A heavy vibration as reported could be due to several things, from a blown engine to a propeller failure. But I doubt that the pilot tried to go further than the nearest airport when it happened. Looks like he couldn’t quite glide that far. R.I.P.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941
Profiler says
My prayers go out to the victims of the crash. So terrible. On another note, wonder why FHP is handling the initial crash….never heard of them working a plane crash in the past 40 years. Usually would be the SO.
News says
“Profiler”;
FHP frequently handles airplane crashes especially in Flagler County. Just using the search function on this site yielded the results.
https://flaglerlive.com/21640/john-roderick-crash/
https://flaglerlive.com/19772/wings-over-flagler-plane-crash/
Nothing out of the oridnary in this case..
Henry Van Der Werff says
As usual Flagler Live does a superb job of covering the news. The pictures are outstanding. Well done. Lucky to have Flagler live cover the news for us
Henry7th
PJ says
Prays for all involved and thank you to the first responders…..PJ
Dadgum says
@ Profiler
Florida Hway Patrol has jurisdiction over local police agencies in plane crashes until NTSB arrives to take over investigations. FHP preserves the site.
observant says
FHP handles all plane crashes. Not the SO.
Bob C says
Is there any reason a Flgler County Comissioner needed to be escorted through the crash zone? Just asking as I do not know what an offical in his position would need to be at a accident scene.
Prayers to the families of those who died…..
rrr says
If you check the time of the crash approx. 2:00 pm. By 3:00 pm Flagler Live had a story with photos.. Long before any other news media picked up on it. Amazing you people from Flagler Live…
Joe A. says
Commissioners get escorted because they can make decisions for disasters such as a state of emergency. Also they have the clout to get community resources to help the family like the red cross or salvation army It is pretty standard procedure in a lot of places. Better to escort the elected then let them run free.
Ms. Crockett has spoken true words. Glory be to God for his saving power. I will pray for her and the victims.
Palm Coast Resident says
So, when did County Commissioner, Charlie Erickson become a first responder? If the FHP is supposed to secure the site until the NTSB arrives to take over the investigation, why did they allow a County Commissioner to be escorted into the active investigation (accident) scene? Sounds to me the FHP screwed up!
The Sheriff should call for a full investigation!
Donnie Riddle says
Hats off to flagler live for the excellent coverage. I have been convinced i am wasting my money taking the area newspaper, because you make them look like they are running backwards. Our prayers go out to the families that this tragedy has affected.
Geezer says
Can you just begin to imagine the horror of having a plane hit your house?!!
Three people perished, but for the homeowner to emerge shaken but not injured–that’s nothing short of miraculous.
“I can never fly for it scares me so
Only birds and bugs should take to the sky
Oh, those planes I do not trust
For man was never meant to fly!”
-Geezer, “Of Birds And Bugs”
Geezer says
I’ll never be a poet.
I just know it….
tulip says
NO ONE should’ve been allowed to be inside except the firefighters, first responders, etc. I am shocked at the authorities letting Erickson in at that point in time. Very offensive. Granted I would be curious about the plane going through the house but I would NOT want to go inside while the bodies were there for all to see That would be very disrepectful.
tulip says
Anyone else having trouble posting? I posted here and everytime I did and clicked the post comment button, I got the web page that siad the site was unavailable or some kind of error. When I clicked again, the original page came back but post was gone.
FlaglerLive says
tulip, we’ve had infuriating difficulties with our servers, which have been swamped by very high volumes of visitors. The fix is not yet in, unfortunately. Apologies, and please be patient.
william says
If you go read the transcript (time-stamped) on News Journal site today, you may notice that it was over 7 minutes from the pilot’s initial call for help. He was told he was 5 miles from the airport. WTF? A car going 60 mph can go 7 miles in 7 minutes. He was not guided directly to the airport, but told to turn several times. There was plenty of time to have landed this plane safely from the initial contact with ATC. This is criminal negligence. Why aren’t government workers with all their lifelong benefits, subjected to performance qualifications like the private sector? Sad, very sad.
Outsider says
William, had the weather been clear, he could have been guided directly to the airport and landed visually. However, the ceiling was well under 1,000 feet and the visibility was four miles, necessitating an instrument approach. The only approaches available at Flagler are GPS approaches. The pilot or airplane were not equipped to do those, so the pilot asked for a “localizer” approach, which is based on a ground transmitter. Flagler does not have this equipment, which is why the controller offered Daytona, which would be the closest airport with that type of approach. The controller then offered a radar approach, which involves the controller assigning headings and and altitudes to guide the airplane to the airport. That was the reason for the turns being assigned to the pilot. Unfortunately, the airplane didnt quite make it to the airport due to engine failure. The bottom line is, this was a very unenviable position to be in while piloting a single engine airplane. The controllers did the best they could under the circumstances, and you labeling them criminals has a lot more to do with you purporting to know something of which you know nothing about than reality.
Patricia (Tovah) Janovsky says
I remember this tragedy very well, living around the corner on Ulaturn Trl. I went to a Sunday evening vigil someone organized over the weekend of the crash and was interviewed by a newsperson. A few months prior (about November) I had a premonition-type dream. In the dream, I was sleeping and heard a loud truck or plane coming closer and closer to my home. I was certain it would break through the wall at any moment. I felt and heard a huge crash hitting us and immediately felt my body on fire, burning with a very intense heat. Then I woke up. We are very close to the airport and often see planes taking off and landing. When a departing plane passes overhead, I lift up my arm towards it and say a short prayer for its protection and protection of those in it.