LAKE CITY, Fla. – A woman died Saturday morning when the plane she was flying crashed into the front yard of a home off Sisters Welcome Road, just east of Interstate 75 near Lake City, according to investigators.
The Piper PA-32 caught fire, which spread to the home, but there were no casualties on the ground.
The Sheriff’s Office, which received dozens of 911 calls about the crash that happened just before 10 a.m., asked people to avoid the area around SW Creekside Lane.
Daniel Kosciow, a neighbor, said he heard the crash and ran to try and help.
“I ran out the back door and saw the flames coming up from over the fence in the backyard. I ran over and saw the plane on fire, and it was a ball of fire,” Kosciow said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. The pilot was the only person on board.
The crash happened less than a half-mile north of the Cannon Creek Airpark, a neighborhood with a landing strip for pilots living in or visiting the community, which is where the NTSB said the plane had taken off from. It’s believed the pilot was heading to Texas, where she lived.
The pilot was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville. She was not immediately identified.