Plane crash on Haulover Inlet Bridge
One person was confirmed dead on Saturday evening after a small plane crashed into Haulover Inlet Bridge in Miami in the afternoon, hitting an SUV and catching fire.
The single-engine Cessna 172 with three people on board lost engine power before slamming into the bridge and striking a vehicle with three people, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
Miami-Dade Police said the head-on collision with the SUV caused the plane to flip and burst into flames.
The Miami Dade Police Department confirmed one person aboard the plane died in the crash and two others were taken to local trauma hospitals. A mother and two children in the SUV also were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
NBC6 Miami video footage from the scene shows smoke rising from the plane’s wreckage in the middle of the roadway. The vehicle struck by the plane, a dark red or maroon SUV, appeared to have severe front-end damage. Miami Dade Fire Rescue responded, extinguished the flames and pulled two passengers out,
but a third already was dead.
Miami-Dade police issued a traffic alert to notify drivers that Collins Avenue would be closed between 96 and 163rd Street. “Expect heavy delays and seek alternative routes,” the police department sent out via social media to alert drivers in the area.
A beachgoer near the scene told the Sun Sentinel the plane nearly hit other
vehicles and caught on fire on impact with the bridge. Nearby drivers tried to pull the pilot and passengers out of the flaming wreckage, he said.
According to the FAA, the aircraft departed from Fort Lauderdale International Airport with a planned destination of Key West International Airport. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.