A small aircraft crashed just outside the front yard of a suburban Denver home while attempting to land on the street, resulting in four individuals being hospitalized in serious to critical condition. According to Alex Lemishko, the National Transportation Safety Board’s senior accident investigator, the passengers sustained burns as the jet crashed and ignited in flames. Among the four hospitalized individuals, two were adults, but it remains unclear whether the other two were adults or children. Fortunately, no residents of the home, located on a street parallel to railroad tracks, were injured in the incident.
The 1969 Beechcraft 35 went down approximately fifteen minutes after departing from Centennial airfield, south of Denver, en route to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, about thirty miles northwest. The pilot had reported engine issues shortly before the crash and had intended to land at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. However, despite the airport likely being visible from the air at that point, the pilot attempted to land on the residential street instead. The plane’s left wing struck a large spruce tree, causing it to skid down the roadway and into the yard. Additionally, it collided with a parked pickup truck, pushing it into another truck in the home’s driveway.
According to Lemishko, using a roadway or even railroad tracks as an emergency landing site is a viable option for pilots who cannot reach an airport. He suggested that the pilot likely opted for the street landing upon spotting it as a potential landing zone. The aircraft was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene around 9:30 a.m., as confirmed by Arvada Fire operations chief Matt Osier.