Plane Crashes In Residential Area Of Connecticut
Clinton, Connecticut, officials are currently on the scene of a plane crash in a residential neighborhood.
The plane crash occurred at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, November 15. The single engine plane went down near Princess Pine road.
Robert Baptista, a resident of the area, recalled the plane crash to NBC Connecticut, “I just saw the plane come right down, right over there, I heard it first. And then I just came into the trees.”
According to Baptista, he was 100 feet from the plane crash when it happened, chopping wood in his backyard. When he realized the pilot was still alive, he called out to her.
“I yelled to her, we yelled, couldn’t really hear her. We went and got a ladder, put the ladder up onto the cockpit, climbed up there and tried to help her get out best we could and then the rescue guy got her,” Baptista said. “She didn’t really say too much to be honest. She was kind of very calm actually, calmer than I was.”
Shirley Onacilla, 62, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was the pilot of the small plane. After the crash, she was taken to Middlesex Memorial Hospital Shoreline in Westbrook. There, she was treated for minor injuries and then released.
The Beech BE-33 plane was registered to Shirley’s Express, based in Willington Delaware.
Onacilla began her journey in Gronton-New London Airport and was heading to Orange County, New York. When she began to notice some engine difficulties with the plane, an air traffic controller redirected her to Chester Airport. She was unable to make it that far.
“Something catastrophic occurred and, unfortunately, she did not make Chester and crash-landed here in Clinton,” Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn of the Clinton Police department said about the plane crash.
As of midnight, the plane was still stuck in a tree, eight to 10 feet from the ground.
Officials are milling around the area and securing the crash site. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be arriving on Sunday to further investigate the plane crash.
Luckily, no one on the ground was hurt, no homes were damaged, and the pilot was the only person on board the plane during the crash.
[Image courtesy of NBC]
