A six-seat Cessna T337G carrying a family of four clipped a tree and burst into flames in a residential street in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Sunday evening, about a mile short of the runway at nearby North Perry Airport. All four occupants—the pilot, Carlos Balza Cardenas, his wife Fanely Maurette Diaz, and their daughters Carol, 16, and Nicole, 13—were taken to Memorial Hospital with what police described as minor injuries. Home-security video shows neighbors racing toward the burning aircraft with axes, hoses and fire extinguishers. They broke the cockpit windows and pulled each family member to safety before emergency crews arrived, according to 911 recordings released Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was on approach to North Perry when it crashed for unknown reasons. Balza told investigators he lost thrust after lowering the landing gear while returning from a trip that included stops in the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos. The wreckage has been moved to a secure facility in Jacksonville for examination. Mayor Angelo Castillo called the incident the 36th crash linked to North Perry Airport in five years and urged Broward County to order an independent safety review. County aviation officials countered that the general-aviation field has received perfect state safety inspections for 25 consecutive years. The NTSB’s probe is ongoing.
Hero neighbors jumped into action to rescue four people after a small plane crashed into a tree and caught fire in a residential neighborhood, just a mile from the airport. https://t.co/BQzXwZcyXg https://t.co/ls4yr4tnk0
People in Florida neighbourhood stop dinner, grab tools to rescue 4 people in plane crash https://t.co/PzLMEAtzl9
Just-released 911 calls captured the desperate moments after a small plane crashed in a Pembroke Pines neighborhood Sunday evening, as neighbors rushed into action. https://t.co/RnASPtxhSD