A small plane crash-landed on the field of a Miramar elementary school Wednesday afternoon due to an engine failure midflight, officials say, narrowly avoiding the school and its students.
About 1 p.m., a pilot and a flight student, both men, took off from North Perry Airport in a single-engine Piper Cherokee for a training flight, according to police and FlightAware. They were on the way back to North Perry a few minutes later and about 2,000 feet in the air when the pilot heard the engine sputter and realized it had failed, according to Miramar Police spokeswoman Janice McIntosh.
He then managed to land the plane in the field west of Coconut Palm Elementary on Monarch Lakes Boulevard, narrowly avoiding the school, its portable classrooms, and children who had just gone inside, according to McIntosh, who said the field was used as a play area for students. The plane was damaged, but the two people on board extricated themselves and said they had no injuries. No structures were involved or damaged.
“It was a miracle because it didn’t hit the school yard, it didn’t hit any portables, and children just came out onto the field,” McIntosh said. “It was nothing short of a miracle.”
The crash “did not impact the school from continuing normal operations at this time,” said Miramar Fire Rescue spokesperson Tara Smith.
As the crash happened shortly before dismissal at 2 p.m., students were allowed to leave soon after it took place, according to John Sullivan, a spokesperson for the Broward school district. There was no damage to the school or injuries to any staff or students.
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Miramar Police and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
Officials did not provide the name of the flight school. The plane is owned by a company called N3055B LLC, based in Delaware, according to FAA records. Most of its previous flights took off from North Perry Airport, many of them returning to North Perry a short while later, according to FlightAware.
Miramar has been the site of several small plane crashes over the years, due to its proximity to North Perry, one of Florida’s busiest general aviation airports.
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