US & World

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (CBS) ― An 80-year-old pilot with a plane in trouble tried to get it back to Ft. Lauderdale Executive airport, but less than a mile from the runway he lost altitude, hit trees and a power line, and slammed into the ground, disintegrating his plane and destroying an Oakland Park home. The pilot died in the crash, but police are saying it was a miracle nobody on the ground was killed, reports CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami.

Pilot Cecil Murray of Tamarac was dropped off at the airport late Friday morning by his wife, so he could take his twin engine Cessna plane for a brief flight to Fernandina Beach. His wife told WFOR that her husband hoped to sell the plane as a result of the trip.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Murray took off shortly before 11:15 after filing a flight plan to Fernandina Beach.

"East of the airport, he radios to the tower saying he's having mechanical difficulties and engine problems," said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti. "They confirmed that with him, they clear all the air traffic and the runway, and they let him know it's ok to proceed back."

Lamberti said Murray tried to return, but continued to have problems with the plane even as he approached the airport.

"He lost altitude, hit a power line, hit a tree and crashed right into the house, " Lamberti said.

The house at 5200 NW 1st Avenue in Oakland Park hit by the plane was home to Oscar Nolasco and his two nephews. All were away when the plane hit the house, one nephew leaving just 10 minutes before the crash.

The plane virtually destroyed the home when it hit, setting off an intense fire which burned the home into two pieces.

BSO Deputy Noel Mercado, the first deputy to arrive, said neighbors were already trying to help.

"The neighbor to the south was actually on his roof with a garden hose, putting water on his house and the neighboring house," Deputy Mercado said. "A couple of neighbors said they had run to the house and smashed out the back window, and were yelling inside to see if anyone was inside.

Mercado said the fuselage of the twin-engine Cessna 421 was leaning against the side of the house, but the flames were too intense to allow anyone to get close. Firefighters spent almost an hour getting the blaze under control, while deputies worked to evacuate people from the area.

"There was a concern about gas in the area," Deputy Mercado said.

As firefighters battled the fire, the task began of figuring out how many people were aboard.

"The flight plan has only one person scheduled to be on board the plane and when we spoke to people on the ground who saw the plane before it took off, they also confirmed there was only one person on board the plane," said Kathleen Bergen, an NTSB spokeswoman.

The plane was registered to Sebring Air Charter, a company with an address in Tamarac. Cecil Murray is listed in state records as president of the company.

Witness Anita Jones recounted what happened as the crash happened.

"I was in my house on my computer," she said, "and I heard a big pop sound and then a few seconds later I heard a even larger pop kinda boom sound and my lights flickered kind of on and off."

Jones lives in the neighborhood where the plane crashed and she noticed a distinct difference in plane traffic above her neighborhood recently.

"Normally it's just not that big of a problem because the planes fly a little higher over this area. But, within the last month and a half there's been some planes that fly low and it almost appears they are landing on the street they are flying so low. I hold my breath when that happens," Jones said.

A spokesman for World Jet East, a service center at Executive Airport, confirmed the plane had been serviced by their company before takeoff, but could provide no other information.

Homeowner Oscar Nolasco was called back to his house by relatives who heard about the crash. He told WFOR he was a bit confused about what had happened.

"This is a little difficult to think about what happened at that time," he said, expressing the hope that his personal papers has survived the crash and fire. His house is uninhabitable, and for now he'll stay with relatives.

"You live here for a long time and in minutes, everything's gone," he said.

Sheriff Lamberti said Murray had more then two decades of experience and had been a pilot since 1985 with 23 thousand hours experience flying multi-engine aircraft.

Lamberti said Murray held a current medical certificate and did not appear to have health problems, downplaying the possibility that age or infirmity might be a contributing factor to the accident.

Determining that cause will be the responsibility to the National Transportation Administration, who Lamberti said should be at the crash site by 8 p.m. Friday.

Lamberti said the pilot's body has been recovered from the plane, and while his death was tragic, he said there was something good to take away from the crash.

As the plane approached the airport, Lamberti said," It's an absolute miracle, because the direction he was coming he could easily have glided, skidded, skidded along and taken out multiple houses. It's a miracle that did not occur."

Police began letting people back into their homes by mid-afternoon, as power crews worked to restore electricity to about 1600 homes that had lost power because of the crash and a police request to shut down electrical service for safety reasons.

Traffic was snarled in the area because of the rescue response, but largely returned to normal by late afternoon Friday.

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