What to Know
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The pilot of the small plane that crashed into a building in Fort Lauderdale Saturday has been identified as a New Jersey man[hhmc]
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The fiery crash killed the pilot, 51-year-old Eladio Marquez, and a friend on board the plane[hhmc]
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No one in the building was injured[hhmc]
The pilot of the small plane that crashed into a Florida building housing a therapy center for children with autism has been identified as a New Jersey man.
Eladio Marquez, 51, of Rahway, was identified by his wife as the man piloting the Cessna 335 that exploded into a fireball into the Fort Lauderdale building on the 1000 block of Northwest 62nd Street Saturday.
His widow spoke in Spanish to the Telemundo station in South Florida, saying he was flying with a friend who was also a former flight student. She said Marquez had been flying for 12 years and been an instructor for 10.
Both died in the fiery crash.
Marquez's widow told Telemundo he was bringing the plane back to New Jersey.
A Florida businesss surveillance camera captured video footage of a small plane exploding into a fireball after it crashed into a building housing a therapy center for children with autism in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend.
Video footage from a nearby business shows the plane skidding across the parking lot, trailed by heavy smoke, and then erupting into flames upon impact.
Several people, including children, could be seen running out of the building. There were eight adults and five children inside the center at the time of the crash but none were injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
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USA Today
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