ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A small plane narrowly missed a building and crashed into a park in Florida Monday morning, injuring its occupants.
All four people on board survived the crash, and no one on the ground was injured when the single-engine Piper Cherokee plane crashed into Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, authorities said.
Grant Jordan, 57, and Aloysius Ryan, 52, were both taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and were listed as in serious but stable condition. Eamonn Harnell, 48, and an unidentified 17-year-old girl both had minor injuries, for which one was treated at Bayfront's emergency room and the other was not admitted.
The plane had been cleared to land at Albert Whitted Airport around 10:30 a.m. when Jordan, the pilot, reported engine problems. Witnesses said it avoided the Vinoy condominium towers, but struck a tree as it crashed into the park.
The plane's flight plan showed it departing Tallahassee Regional around 8:15 a.m. and was due to land at Albert Whitted at 9:54 a.m.
Two weeks ago, another small plane crashed near Albert Whitted. On August 31, a plane piloted by Donald Thomasson, 70, was killed when his plane crashed into the water shortly after takeoff.
