BARTOW, Fla. - Two people died when the small plane they were flying over a Bartow crashed.
The FAA says the single-engine Mooney M20J aircraft crashed just after 11 a.m. in the driveway of a home along Weston Road, less than a mile northeast of the Bartow Executive Airport.
A married couple, 73-year-old Bonnie Powell and 76-year-old Dennis Powell, of Port Orange, Florida, died in the crash, the Polk County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
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Plane crashes in Bartow neighborhood
Ken Suarez reports
Nearby residents said they heard the plane come down.
“We heard it coming across and, all of a sudden, we heard the thump and we knew what had happened,” resident Roland Cook told FOX 13. “Hopefully, it is just a once in a lifetime thing.
Investigators with the NTSB and FAA are trying to figure out what happened.
“Bartow was in communication with them. There did not appear to be anything going on. But for some unknown reason, they just lost altitude and crashed pretty much nose in,” explained Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Scott Wilder.
No homes were hit, and there were no injuries on the ground, authorities said. There is some damage to the driveway and an oak tree in the front yard. A nearby vehicle's window was shattered by debris, deputies said.”