Pilot of banner-towing plane killed after crashing next to store parking lot

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The pilot of a small banner-towing plane died Wednesday after crashing next to the parking lot of a Target store in South Florida, authorities said.

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The single-engine Piper PA-25-235 aircraft crashed shortly at approximately 12:36 p.m. EDT across from the Hollywood Hills Plaza shopping center, the Miami Herald reported.

Preliminary information shows that the plane departed from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Arlene Satchell, a spokesperson for the airport, told the Sun-Sentinel in an email.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the pilot was the only occupant of the aircraft, the newspaper reported.

The plane burst into flames after the crash, Deanna Bettineschi, a Hollywood Police spokesperson, told the Sun-Sentinel in an email. Witnesses described seeing plumes of smoke, smelling gasoline in the air and feeling the heat of the blaze from across the street.

The identity of the pilot was not revealed and the owner of the aircraft was unclear.

Video posted on social media showed the plane with smoke billowing from the aircraft, WTVJ reported.

“You could feel the heat,” witness Chris Apinis told WPLG-TV. “It was pretty, pretty intense.”

Karen Schiff, who works for Memorial Healthcare System at an outpatient center near the Target store, said she believed the pilot was trying to guide the plane to make an emergency landing in a safe place, away from the parking lot and busy traffic.

“I think the pilot was trying to avoid as many people as possible because he knew he was going down,” Schiff told the Sun-Sentinel. “He’s a hero. He did everything he could.”

There is no evidence that the plane hit other vehicles, Bettineschi told the Herald.