DELAND, Fla., April 3 (UPI) -- A small plane came through the roof of a Florida supermarket Monday evening in a fiery crash, leaving the pilot and passenger badly burned, officials said.
A witness told WFTV-TV, Orlando, the plane had just taken off from the DeLand Municipal Airport when the engine quit. The plane crashed into the Publix market in the Northgate Shopping Center, next to the airport.
"When the engine sputtered what happened was the pilot tried to make a turn … and when he tried to turn the plane the engine quit and the plane just fell into the Publix," the witness said.
The plane was described as a single-engine experimental aircraft.
A Publix employee said the manager of the meat department put out the flames when two men emerged from the plane with their clothing on fire. A man in the store was less severely burned and two female shoppers were treated for minor injuries.
Volusia County Fire Rescue said the pilot and passenger were being treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center for major burns.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were to investigate the crash.
