PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - Crews hauled off a small plane in Miramar, one day after it crash-landed feet away from the campus of an elementary school.
7News cameras on Thursday captured the Piper Cherokee Archer as it was being loaded onto a flatbed truck and towed from the area of the 136000 block of Monarch Lakes Boulevard.
The Piper made an emergency landing right next to Coconut Palm Elementary School just after 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
“The aircraft has landed in a field area east of {interstate] 75,” said a dispatcher in radio transmissions.
On board were a pilot and a flight instructor. They managed to get the plane on the ground without injuring themselves or anyone else, mere minutes after children were in the exact same area.
“Moments before, they not only had activities in that portable, but they also had kids out on the field,” said Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss.
The aircraft was heading west after having just taken off from North Perry Airport when the troubles began.
“We got engine failure. We are just gonna land somewhere here,” said the pilot in radio transmissions.
“3055 Bravo, you said engine failure?” said the tower controller at the airport.
“We got engine failure, 55 Bravo,” said the pilot.
“55 Bravo, Roger. You going to be able to make it to the field?” said the tower controller.
“No, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the field, so I’m just going to land here,” said the pilot.
It appears there was no time to turn around, so the pilot did what he could and managed to avoid a tragedy.
Speaking with reporters hours after the landing, Moss singled out the pilot’s actions.
“He made a perfect landing. Had he gone further in there, and the kids were playing, that would have been a catastrophe,” he said.
The Piper is owned by a flight school at North Perry Airport. The school has not responded to 7News’ request for more information.
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