DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating after a pilot crashed a small plane into a backyard on Detroit's east side.
The crash happened in a neighborhood on Duchess St. near Morang Avenue around 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The plane landed between a garage and a fence. First responders say the two passengers on board walked away with minor injuries.
"I heard a big boom and I thought it was thunder at first and I was thinking like I know it ain’t supposed to be raining or anything but then I heard all the commotion," said Nytia Stafford who lives in the home where the plane crashed.
Stafford says at the time of the crash, she was sleeping in her bedroom just feet away from where the plane landed. Stafford says the only damage she's noticed so far are downed trees. She says the crash also took out WiFi connectivity to her home.
"He landed pretty well. It’s minor stuff done to the garage, just some little pieces came off of it," said Stafford. "No real, real damage. Just a few trees, broken trees of course. No real damage to the garage, no real damage done to our neighbor's garage. Whatever he did, it was crazy."
Thursday, as the plane remained in Stafford's backyard, several neighbors gathered in the nearby Skinner Playfield to get photos and videos of the crashed aircraft.
"I expected to see a big plane just smashed up in the backyard, but it’s just a small plane folded up, engine hanging out, wings standing up," said Terry Mitchell who lives nearby.
Mitchell says he left for work about 20 minutes prior to the crash. He says he received several calls from friends and family members after the plane came down.
"You have people coming from everywhere just to look and see if it’s real 'cause it’s hard to believe," said Mitchell of the spectacle. "You gotta give credit to the people who was driving that plane cause a lot of people probably wouldn’t be able to do what they did. They missed the house and the garage. I mean how can you do that? They had to be praying."
In the last few years, metro Detroit has seen several small plane crashes including a wreck in Ray Township in Macomb County, an emergency crash landing at Stellantis in Auburn Hills, and another crash in Lyon Township in Oakland County where three people were killed.
Neighbors here say they’re grateful this didn’t end more tragically.
"I’m just happy it didn’t fall on my house while I was sleeping," said Stafford.
The FAA and NTSB are now working to learn what caused the crash. An investigator on scene Thursday told 7 Action News crews that they would not be removing the plane. They said the removal will be the responsibility of insurers.
