Family Unscathed After Private Plane Crashes Into Their House; Those Aboard Plane Die

A small plane crashed into a Massachusetts home Sunday, killing all three passengers aboard, sparking a fire that engulfed the structure, but leaving the home's four residents, who were all home at the time uninjured, the National Transportation Safety Board said. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan called it “a miracle” the four family members, who escaped through the roof of their home, were unharmed.

Both the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration have sent investigators to the scene. The plane was en route from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, to Norwood, Massachusetts, the FAA said. WBZ, Boston, reported the plane’s pilot, who has not been identified, indicated to an air traffic tower in Massachusetts something was wrong with his plane. "We've got a real bad vibration,” the pilot reportedly said. “We're losing engines."

The WCVB-TV, Boston, reported an air traffic controller tried to direct the pilot to a nearby highway for an emergency landing after the plane began to lose altitude. The plane crashed into the home in Plainville just before 5 p.m. Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said the crash ignited what became a three-alarm fire. Multiple local fire departments responded, and eventually got the blaze under control. One of the responding firemen also managed to locate and rescue the family’s cat.

The NTSB will determine the cause of the accident.