Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Plane crashes near Publix
Small aircraft’s 25-year-old pilot in training killed
MIRAMAR – A small plane, trying to return to the airport safely, crashed Tuesday near a Publix in Miramar, killing a 25-year-old pilot in training.
Mark Daniel Scott of Miramar died after his plane apparently developed mechanical problems and clipped power lines while trying to land on Pembroke Road, according to police spokeswoman Tania Rues.
The plane crashed outside the Miramar Commons shopping center about 9 a.m., not long after Publix had opened.
A passenger, a flight instructor from Wayman Aviation, was seriously hurt and was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital. Police did not identify the instructor.
The aircraft, a Piper PA-34, had taken off from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines when the pilot notified air traffic controllers that he was trying to return to the airport, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
A dashcam video shot by a Miami man captured the plane flying low over an intersection and clipping a power line before hitting the ground.
“Obviously, the plane is very low in the video and was dropping so I was just kind of shocked,” said Alan Birmaher, who shot the video while
stopped at a red light. “When the plane hit the [power] lines, it went down fast and almost as soon as I heard it hit the ground I saw smoke and fire … very fast and scary.”
Anchored by Publix, the shopping center also is home to South Broward Community Health Center, Chase Bank, Metro PCS and a Pacesetter Academy Learning Center, a preschool.
FAA investigators were headed to the scene Tuesday afternoon. The cause of the plane’s mechanical problems had not been determined.
Eddy Luy, vice president of Wayman Aviation, said the pilot followed proper emergency procedures. “It seems like chance was not with them this morning,” Luy said.
He said the pilot was nearing the end of his training. He expressed condolences to the pilot’s family.