A small plane crash in Pembroke Pines led to four hospitalized individuals last night. According to NBC Miami, the incident occurred near Southwest 14th Street and 68th Boulevard, involving a pilot and three passengers—two of whom were minors. Pembroke Pines Police and Fire Rescue teams responded to the scene where emergency teams transported the victims to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, as the 16-year-old girl was designated a trauma alert.
Local residents described hearing a "loud boom" followed by several popping sounds—an indication of the plane's distress before it crashed into a nearby tree, WSVN News reported community members mobilized to assist the injured occupants, eyewitness Eddie Crispin recounted the immediate action of neighbors utilizing a fire extinguisher, a water hose and an axe to aid the crash victims. Velve, another witness, described the plane's dangerous proximity to power lines before diving lower into the crash stating, "for me, it’s the most traumatic experience I’ve ever felt in my life. I’ve never actually seen something that traumatic in my face, let alone gone and helped the people."
The mayor of Pembroke Pines, Angelo Castillo, has expressed frustration at the ongoing safety issues related to North Perry Airport, citing over 36 accidents in the past five years. In a statement obtained by NBC Miami, Castillo emphasized the community's demand for safety and called for the Broward County Commission to investigate the airport's safety concerns. Meanwhile, the crash site remained closed to traffic as authorities conducted their ongoing investigation into the incident.
Authorities have revealed that the aircraft involved was based at the nearby North Perry Airport, albeit, the cause of the crash is yet unclear, officials said the plane was in "some sort of distress" and made a forced landing on the street, cellphone footage captured by bystanders shows the plane atop a tree, having narrowly missed homes "I’m glad that everyone made it out alive, but it was very shaken and felt very devastating to see that," witness Velve told WSVN News.
