MIAMI — Henry Flores rushed to his home from work after receiving a call from his frantic wife. She was in the master bedroom with their 2-year-old son when a loud noise rang out.
Flores’ wife initially thought a transformer blew up — but it turns out a plane had crashed right above the room.
Two people aboard the small plane were killed when it crashed into the Miramar house around 11:40 a.m. Eastern time Monday, police said. The house, in the 2200 block of Jamaica Drive, is about a half mile from the southern edge of North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, the departure airfield for the Arnet Peryera Aventura II. On its way down to the roof near the back of the house, the plane took down power lines.
“Something needs to be done about the airport nearby,” Flores said in Spanish. “They give classes to people who have never gotten in one of those planes. It’s a danger. What if the baby was outside, or even if I was outside? What would have happened?”
Henry Flores Piloto bought the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in 2019, according to Broward County online property records. He hasn’t been able to go into his home yet to assess the damage. But despite what happened, Flores said he’s thankful that his wife and son are OK.
Miramar police spokesperson Tania Rues said no one on the ground was injured. Six surrounding homes were evacuated because of a fuel leak, which has now been contained. Florida Power & Light noted it “deenergized” the line to allow fire-rescue workers to safely deal with the plane and would restore power to the 35 affected customers when it could safely do so.
FAA online records connect the plane’s tail number, N32856, to a 2008 Arnet Peryera Aventura II fixed-wing single-engine plane owned by David Goodfellow of Sutherland, Virginia.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. It could take up to 48 hours to remove the plane from the home, a police sergeant on the scene told the Miami Herald.
On Monday afternoon, most streets surrounding Jamaica Drive were shut down, filled with police and emergency vehicles.
Neighbors and curious onlookers chatted along the taped off perimeter as they stared at the plane tail sticking out from the home’s roof. The tragedy even introduced neighbors Esmeralda Flores and Mayte Rodriguez for the first time.
Esmeralda Flores, who isn’t related to the Flores family, has lived in the neighborhood for almost four decades. However, this isn’t an anomaly. Such accidents are why neighbors want to see the commercial airport closed.
Small aircraft crashes aren’t uncommon in Miramar or around the North Perry Airport area. In the last 30 months, the area has seen five accidents.
In 2020, a plane crash at Miramar Commons shopping center, 11150 Pembroke Road, killed Wayman Aviation Academy student Mark Scott and seriously injured flight instructor Andres Bastidas. In 2021, Tyler Bishop, the 4-year-old son of Hollywood Hills Elementary School paraprofessional Megan Bishop, was killed when a crashing plane struck his mother’s SUV as the Bishops rode along Southwest 72nd Avenue.
Rodriguez, who has been in the U.S. for only eight months, was in her living room, frozen from fear when she heard the boom. After she walked out of her home to survey the scene, she then went inside, telling her husband about the crash. He then cautioned that her nerves alone would cause him to have a heart attack.
As Flores and Rodriguez got to know each other, discussing the crash, they mentioned that Henry Flores’ wife now wants to move after yet another accident.
“But it can happen anywhere,” Flores said in Spanish. “When it’s your day, it’s your day.”
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