The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank Firefighters work on the blaze after the plane crashed Tuesday. |
SANFORD, Fla. — A small plane registered to a company linked to NASCAR’s late chairman crashed into two houses while trying to make an emergency landing Tuesday, killing five people and starting fires that seriously burned three others, authorities said.
The identities of the dead were not immediately released.
At least two victims were on the plane, authorities said. A NASCAR spokesman in Charlotte, N.C., said the public relations staff was “in the information gathering stage” but he had no further details about how had been aboard.
Both of the homes were largely gutted by the flames, and smoke could be seen rising from the suburban Orlando neighborhood where the plane went down around 8:40 a.m.
Matt Minnetto, a fire investigator with Sanford Fire Department, said two people aboard the plane were confirmed dead in the crash and the plane itself was scattered in several pieces. At least three people were injured in one of the homes, including two adults and a boy about 10 years old who had burns over 80 to 90 percent of his body, Minnetto said.
“It was an extremely intense fire,” Minnetto said. The crash spilled aviation fuel, contributing to the fire’s spread.
Three of the victims killed in the crash and fire were believed to have been inside or near the homes, said Seminole County Fire Chief Leeanna Raw. She said three of the fire people killed were adults. In one home, there were reports that a toddler might have been missing in the fire, Minnetto said.
A firefighter who responded to the blazes was also hurt.
The twin engine Cessna 310 was registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau Inc. of Daytona Beach, said Kathleen Bergen with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Competitor Liaison is registered under the name of William C. France, the late chairman of NASCAR, according to online records from the Department of State Division of Corporations show. James C. France is listed as an officer of the company.
The plane was traveling from Daytona Beach to Lakeland when the pilot declared smoke in the cockpit. The pilot was attempting to land at the Orlando Sanford International Airport when the plane crashed about a mile or two north of the airport, Bergen said.
A message left with an airport spokeswoman was not immediately returned.