Friday, March 15, 2013

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- A small plane crashed into a parking lot near a South Florida airport, killing all three people on board and burning about a dozen cars.

Fort Lauderdale fire officials said no one on the ground was hurt in the Friday afternoon crash near that city's executive airport. The plane was a Piper Navajo, which is a two-engine turboprop.

A Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport spokesman says the plane began experiencing problems shortly after takeoff and was trying to return when it hit a warehouse at 53rd Street and North Powerline Road, about a half-mile east of the airport. It then crashed into the parking lot.

Television images showed about eight cars in a corner that were burned out shells, a smoldering heap covered in foam spread by firefighters on the scene.

(Copyright 2013, The Associated Press)