A pilot has died after a plane crashed shortly after takeoff at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines.
Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue crews responded to the airport in the area of Pines Boulevard and South University Drive at around 3 p.m., Monday.
Pilot Cesar Quintana said when he spotted the aircraft, it a few feet off the ground.
“We basically saw it about a second before impact, and it just hit the ground and a white puff of smoke,” he said. “It was too fast to see it, too fast to really understand what took place. We heard a loud bang. That’s what we saw. I actually contacted the tower to make sure they knew about it, that they were working on the emergency vehicles.”
According to fire officials, the plane experienced engine trouble on takeoff and attempted to return and land on Runway 28R.