by: WAVY Web Staff, Chris Horne
DELTAVILLE, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia State Police say one person is dead after a small plane crashed into a garage Tuesday morning in Middlesex County.
The crash happened around 9:30 a.m. in the 1270 block of North End Road in Deltaville.
Virginia State Police have not released many details, but confirmed there was one fatality. They say the preliminary investigation showed a fixed-wing aircraft struck the garage-type structure, causing it to become engulfed in flames.
Photos from WAVY viewer Sondra Groft show the extent of the smoke. A small airport is about two miles from the crash site.
The medical examiner was at the scene as of 1:20 p.m. working to identify the body.
“We are dealing with someone’s life right here, and it’s so tragic,” said Phil Spencer, who owns the adjoining property. The wreckage of the plane came to rest next to his garage, which is adjacent to the one the plane struck.
The private North End Shores community where the plane crashed is a cluster of summer homes for people in Hampton Roads and the Richmond area.
Sondra Groft lives about a quarter-mile away on Robins Point Avenue. She heard a plane in distress about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and then felt the impact.
“A loud boom that shook the house. It was pretty frightening that it happened so close to the house, and pretty frightening that it happened to the person who lost their life in the crash,” Groft said.
Light planes flying overhead are common in this area near the Chesapeake Bay.
“There’s an airport right here in Topping, at the base of the Whitestone Bridge and there’s a lot of fields up here on the top of the hill. We see a lot of crop dusters and other planes flying over, especially this time of the year,” Spencer said.
