A small airplane plowed into the top of a flight safety center at an airport in Kansas after losing engine power on takeoff Thursday, killing at least four four people, injuring five and leaving four others missing, officials said.
The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air reported trouble after taking off from Mid-Content Airport in Wichita around 10 a.m. ET. It hit a two-story FlightSafety International building while trying to return to the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The crash sent up thick plumes of black smoke that could be seen for miles.
Brian Youngers was in an office directly across the street, about 100 feet away, when the plane crashed.
'We heard a plane just buzz the top of the building and heard a big, huge crash - a bang. We immediately ran outside and across the street and the building was already going up in flames. You could see part of the wing hanging off the building, burning, and the landing gear.'
Youngers said he ran to the backside of the building to see if he could help and saw workers streaming out. Soon after, an airport police officer arrived and asked him to move away from the scene.
Jaison Podkanowicz, who works near the airport, told NBC News he heard a noise that sounded like 'something falling off a truck,' then saw the airplane 'just sitting on the top of the building on fire' as 'black, hazy smoke' billowed from a gaping hole.
Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell said only the pilot was on the airplane. Airport spokeswoman Valerie Wise said 'approximately' 100 people were in the FlightSafety building at the time of the crash.
Most of the building had been searched but rescue crews could not get into one simulator room on the north end because of collapse dangers and they were waiting for a structural engineer to advise them on the safest way to bring in heavy machinery.
Four people were dead, five were injured, and four other people were missing, said Brad Crisp, the Wichita Fire Department Fire Marshal. At least two of the dead were inside the building at the time of the crash, Blackwell said. A search for the missing people was halted at midday after a part of the building collapsed, making it too dangerous for crews to go inside, he said.
FAA investigators were at the scene and the National Transportation Safety Board was notified of the crash.
This is a breaking news story. Please refresh this page for updates.
First published October 30 2014, 8:15 AM
Tracy Connor
Tracy Connor is a senior writer for NBC News. She started this role in December, 2012. Connor is responsible for reporting and writing breaking news, features and enterprise stories for NBCNews.com. Connor joined NBC News from the New York Daily News, where she was a senior writer covering a broad range of news and supervising the health and immigration beats. Prior to that she was an assistant city editor who oversaw breaking news and the courts and entertainment beats.Earlier, Connor was a staff writer at the New York Post, United Press International and Brooklyn Paper Publications.Connor has won numerous awards from journalism organizations including the Deadline Club and the New York Press Club.She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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