A flight instructor and student pilot were among three people injured Wednesday morning when their small training plane plowed into a residential neighborhood just south of Deer Valley Airport.
The crash on one home's roof sheared a wing off the plane before it came to rest in the backyard of another property, according to fire officials and federal authorities.
The plane struck the two houses near Cave Creek Road and Deer Valley Drive before its fuselage came to a stop in one home’s backyard, according to Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Todd Keller. He said the plane’s wing broke away on impact and tore a hole through the roof of a neighboring home to the east, sending fuel dripping into the attic insulation below.
"That wing had sheared off and it punctured a hole into the roof of the East house, and it was leaking into the attic insulation," Keller told NTD News.
A baby's bedroom inside one of the damaged homes was directly in the path of the wreckage—but the infant was not in the room at the time of the crash, according to Keller. Hazardous materials crews were dispatched to the scene to address the fuel leak and clear the contaminated insulation.
The two occupants of the plane along with a resident in the first home that was struck were transported to a local hospital for minor injuries. All three were reported to be in stable condition, according to Keller.
Authorities urged the public and members of the media to steer clear of the area surrounding the crash site due to the fuel spill.
The cause of the crash remained unknown Wednesday morning, and federal officials offered no immediate details about what may have gone wrong during the aircraft's final approach.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed in a statement to NTD News that an investigation has been opened and an onsite investigator arrived at the scene Wednesday. After the wreckage is documented, the plane will be moved to a secure facility to be evaluated further, a spokesperson said.
Germain Huval, a Phoenix resident who happened to be cycling through a nearby wash with a friend shortly after the crash, said the scene stopped him in his tracks.
Numerous other small aircraft have crashed in communities across the country in recent weeks.