DETROIT – A small plane crashed in a Detroit (search) neighborhood Monday after it clipped a utility pole, setting fire to two houses and injuring both people aboard the plane.
The pilot and passenger escaped the wreckage on their own and were hospitalized in fair condition with broken bones. No one on the ground was hurt, officials said.
The Piper Aztec (search) began having engine problems immediately after taking off from Detroit City Airport (search), and clipped the pole as it made a turn, police said.
The plane crashed about a half-mile from the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Police said the roof and much of the second story of a new house burned away. Across the street, the mangled remains of the aircraft lay near another house that also suffered fire damage.
Lakisha Roberts, 29, was in the new house with her 1-year-old son when she heard the plane hit.
"I just heard a boom, then I seen all the fire in the yard and I just started running," she said.
Roberts said her husband and two other children, ages 10 and 6, weren't home at the time.
The family's sport utility vehicle was also destroyed in the fire, she said.
A small plane also crashed into the roof of a suburban Atlanta house Monday. Authorities said no one was injured.
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