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Shortly after takeoff, a twin-engine aircraft dipped into a Idylridge Drive home. James Wager pilot from Lakeland was killed. Miraculously, a trainee in the plane and family in the house were not seriously injured.
WINTER HAVEN – A tragic training flight on Saturday when a Lakeland pilot was killed after his plane dipped into a house shortly after takeoff from the Winter Haven Regional Airport.
At a press conference near the scene of the crash, Sheriff Grady Judd announced the death of James Wagner, 64, when the twin-engine SeaBee UC-1 s 39 is crushed against the roof of a house located at 2735 Idylridge Drive, around 12:43. Timothy Sheehy, a trainee in the plane during the flight with Wagner, is miraculously away from the accident.
Janie Cowper, who lives in the neighborhood, witnessed the accident while she was cycling in the area.
The plane, she said, "hovered, swayed back and forth" and was "incredibly noisy" while it was crashing. "I thought, oh my God, that it was plunging into the roof of the house," she says. Before the impact, she stated that the plane had made a "loud noise". A girl next door ran out of her house screaming, Cowper said. The neighbors went out to see what had happened and Cowper saw a man walk down the alley, "pulling a bloody leg".
This man was Sheehy, a student pilot who had just arrived from Bozeman (Montana) with a friend on Saturday to train.
In the house, Carmelle Ngalamulume, a 17 year old girl, was in her room when the plane crashed into her tiny 10×12 room.
His 20-year-old brother Joel, who was in the next room, rushed to unsuccessfully try to free his sister, who was stuck in the collapsed wall, according to Judd.
The girl was released from the debris by the rescuers and taken to a hospital in the area where she was classified in a stable condition late Saturday afternoon.
Their mother, Emerance, was in the bathroom taking a shower when the accident occurred. In addition, three other children aged 15, 11 and 2 were playing in the alley. Neither the mother nor the other children were injured.
"So, as tragic as it was for Mr. Wagner, it was a blessing for us today to not have an entire family shattered," Judd said at a press conference behind the house. . He added that Sheehy had been taken to a hospital in the area and treated for injuries that appeared to be "minor".
Judd said "it was a miracle" that more people were not injured or killed. "We are shocked by the severity of Carmelle's injuries." It's a 10 x 12 room. "And she and this plane are in the room at the same time, a set of incredible circumstances," Judd said.
The Winter Haven fire department, which used foam at home due to the highly volatile fuel used by the aircraft, was part of the emergency force. Another amazing event is that the plane did not catch on fire.
We saw neighbors kissing inside a crime cassette set up by the sheriff's office.
Richard Jones told The Ledger that he had met Wagner 20 years ago, while Wagner was a mechanic at the Seaplane Base at Winter Haven Airport.
"I flew with him, he was an excellent pilot," Jones said, adding that "it was not a driver error."
Jones said the plane had the ability to land on land or on water. His wife, Nancy, joined him at the scene and both were in tears. "He was really a nice man," said Nancy about Wagner.
Pilots on the scene say they think he lost an engine in his multi-engine plane.
"A bit of altitude would have helped to land, but with a broken engine …," Jones said.
The investigation is still in its infancy, Judd said, and the details released on Saturday could change as new information is learned.
"Their goal today was a simulated training on engine failures," said Judd, adding, "Let me emphasize that we do not know, at that time, they were simulating a power outage. of engine when they crashed. "
The scene of the accident will be secure and the aircraft will remain intact until the end of the investigation conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Judd said the NTSB should arrive Sunday.
Charlie Bird, Chief of Public Security for Winter Haven, said he was proud of the combined efforts of the police and the Winter Haven Fire Services and the PCSO at the scene of the fire. accident. "There are heroes today who have found themselves in a very dangerous situation," Bird said. The police entered the house, he said, learning that a teenager was stuck in the bedroom.
Chris and Kim Holsen, longtime residents near the landing strip located behind the Idylridge Drive house, said, "We have been living here for 20 years, we have never seen a plane crush on a house. "
Evens LeBlanc, who lives across the street from the scene of the accident, has been concerned for some time that the planes are flying over the houses all the time.
Kathy Leigh Berkowitz can be contacted at [email protected] or 863-802-7558. Follow her on Twitter @kberkowitzthel1.
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