Newly released audio from the Thursday plane crash in Clearwater, Florida captured the final moments of a pilot before he died, Fox 13 reported.
The distressing audio recording offers insight into the final moments of the pilot who died from the plane crash, according to Fox 13. The recording features the pilot’s desperate communication, revealing his inability to locate the airport and declaring an engine failure just moments before the disaster.
“I can’t see the other airport,” the pilot said in the audio obtained by Fox 13. “I’m losing an engine … Oh, shit.” Throughout the three-and-a-half-minute audio clip, the another pilot attempted to ascertain the crash site’s precise location. (RELATED: Aviation YouTuber And Father Killed In A Plane Crash Just Weeks After Posting A Video Showing Aircraft Malfunction)
The aircraft met its end as it crashed into the Bayside Waters mobile home park located along U.S. 19, around 7 p.m., igniting a fierce inferno upon impact, according to the outlet. The fellow aviator in the vicinity reportedly bore witness to the crash, noting the severe nature of the descent and the subsequent engulfment of flames. The witness described the scene as a structure fire, indicating the plane had collided with a building, leading to extensive damage, according to the outlet.
“He is definitely into a house, a whole house is demolished,” the pilot who allegedly witnessed the incident said, Fox 13 noted. “I just saw him going down at an extremely high rate of speed.”
The crash resulted in the deaths of two individuals on the ground as well as the pilot, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the outlet reported. The identities of the victims have yet to be disclosed as investigations continue, according to Fox 13.
Authorities have since identified the victims, according to the Clearwater Police Department’s Facebook. The lone pilot of the aircraft was identified as Jemin Patel, 54, from Melbourne Beach, Florida. The Clearwater crash resulted in the deaths of Martha Parry, 86, a resident, and visitor Mary Ellen Pender, 54.
Nine individuals had reportedly been in the mobile home just before the crash.