HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Local and federal authorities are searching for answers after a deadly plane crash.
Two people were killed when a small plane crashed just steps from where dozens of families were boarding a hayride in Luzerne County Saturday.
The small plane crashed near the entrance to Doran’s Farm in Hanover Township.
Police are waiting for the NTSB to join the investigation.
“I was walking and I saw this plane, it was flying just a regular flight,” said Eileen Melone of Hanover Township.
Melone was walking near her home in the Liberty Hills neighborhood when she witnessed the tragedy unfold.
“It was going straight and about four or five birds, I don’t know what kind of birds they were, but they came like they were going to go in front of the plane, and the plane took a huge dip, and then I heard a bang,” said Melone.
The small plane crashed around 3 p.m. on the property of Doran’s Farm along Saint Mary’s Road.
Hanover Township Police Chief David Lewis told Eyewitness News off-camera that both people on the ill-fated flight were found dead, one inside the plane and the other in the backyard of a home in Liberty Hills.
“I didn’t even have time to process it,” said Melone.
State and local police, first responders and the FAA quickly secured both scenes to investigate.
According to FlightAware, a tool that tracks public flight information, a plane matching the description took off from Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort at 2:48 p.m.
Its last known location was marked near St. Mary’s Road at approximately 2:51 p.m., suggesting the flight was in the air for just a few brief minutes.
“It’s scary, I feel so bad for everyone. I mean the plane was out on a beautiful day just flying normally,” said Melone.
Chief Lewis says the plane crashed just 100 feet away from where families and children were boarding Doran Farm’s popular hayride attraction, a fatal flight that could have been even far worse.
Eyewitness News was told the NTSB is expected to arrive Sunday morning and autopsies are scheduled for the unidentified victims on Tuesday.
