Couple recount moment a plane crashed and exploded in their front yard
Neighbours rushed to the crash site to pull victims of the crash, including two children, from the wreckage
Kit Roberts
A couple recalled the moment that a plane crashed into their front yard, seemingly out of nowhere.
The light aircraft, a 1969 Beechcraft 35, crashed into the front yard of their Colorado home on Friday, sending neighbours rushing to the wreckage to look for survivors.
It had struck a fence and a tree before crashing and bursting into flames in the Arvada neighbourhood in Denver.
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Four passengers had been on board the aircraft when it crashed, and are known to have suffered severe burns.
The passengers, two of whom were children, were taken to a nearby hospital in an unknown condition.
A statement posted to the Twitter account of Arvada Police said: "Two adults and two juveniles have been transported to local hospitals with injury."
Images from the scene show the burnt out remains of the plane after it crashed into the front garden.
Randy Hamrick witnessed the aircraft crashing into his front garden.
Describing it, he said he had first thought that the colossal noise of the plane crashing had been due to a train derailing.
However, he looked out to see the wreckage of the plane.
He told KDVR: “We saw the explosion and the glow from the outside and said, well, wait a second."
He went on to say that he had been worried that the house was going to collapse following the impact of the plane outside.
“It felt like it was falling in. I mean, it was just that violent," he said.
Fortunately, neither Randy nor his wife were hurt in the crash, and the house itself was not damaged.
The pilot of the aircraft has not been identified.
A report of the aircraft stated that it had taken off from Centennial Airport south of Denver and had been heading for the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
It went on to say that the pilot had experienced engine difficulties around 15 minutes after taking off.
The pilot had radioed a Jefferson County air traffic control tower and requested an emergency landing after a low oil pressure light had come up on the dashboard.
Just moments later the pilot reported extreme power loss and said that they would not make it to the airport.
They went on to say that they would have to 'put it down' wherever they could, before the tower lost contact.
Officials have said that the pilot had attempted to land on the residential street, but the plane's wing had clipped a tree sending the aircraft spinning out of control.
NTSB accident investigator Alex Lemishko told KDVR: “I’m sure what was going through the pilot’s mind was ‘I see a roadway, I need to get this aircraft down, let’s give it a shot.’”
UNILAD has reached out to Arvada Police Department for comment.