The plane crashed next to a house No civilians on the ground were injured, authorities said
A Navy plane crashed in a residential area in southern Alabama on Friday afternoon, killing its two crew members, the Navy said
The plane fell next to a house near Foley, Ala, a coastal area about 30 miles southeast of Mobile, Ala, officials said. No civilians on the ground were injured, said the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office
The plane was a T-6B Texan II, the Navy said The type of plane is often used to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots, according to the Navy website
The two pilots on the plane were an instructor and a student, said Cmdr Zach Harrell, a spokesperson for the Naval Air Force.The Navy said it would not release the names of the pilots until 24 hours after the notification of next of kin
The plane took off from Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Santa Rosa County, Fla., about 60 miles northeast of where it crashed, he said
The crash, which occurred at around 4:20 p.m., sent debris towards a house, setting it on fire, said Joseph Darby, chief of the Foley fire department The two occupants of the house at the time escaped, Chief Darby said
Two vehicles and the « remains of the plane » were destroyed in the blaze, he said Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze quickly, he said, preventing it to spread to other houses on the street
James Farris, who lives opposite the house that caught fire, said he saw the crash through his home office window He often hears trainer planes flying overhead, he said, but Friday afternoon’s plane was flying low
“It looked like the Blue Angels,” he said, referring to the group of navy jets that perform “It was flying very low” aerial demonstrations
As Mr. Farris was looking for the plane, he saw it dive nose to nose into the ground
“Upon impact, it exploded,” he said, adding that he had fired a “big ball of flame” towards the house which caught fire “When the fuel exploded, he entered this house ”, he declared
The two people who escaped from the house that caught fire were a father and a daughter, he said
Aviation accident and incident, US Navy, Alabama
News from the world – United States – Navy plane crash in Alabama, killing 2 crew
