Cottonwood residents left shocked after small plane crashes in their neighborhood
YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. - A pilot is in the hospital after a small plane crashed in Cottonwood on Sunday.
The Sept. 8 crash happened in a residential area on Spur Drive in the Yavapai County city.
"The pilot is in stable condition having been transported to a Phoenix area hospital. No one else was on board the plane and no one on the ground was injured," the sheriff's office said.
A home's carport was damaged, but not the home itself.
There's no word on what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
Residents left stunned
Some residents in Cottonwood are still in shock after the crash. They were woken up by a loud bang.
"I was sleeping, and I heard a crash," Brandi Boykin said. "I thought it was my air conditioning falling through the ceiling and I didn't think anything of it once I knew it wasn't that. I thought, ‘Oh, something just crashed in the backyard, whatever.'"
Nothing crashed in her backyard, but in her next door neighbor's yard, it was a different story.
"I heard the security alarms go off and that's when I looked and saw the police were there," she said.
The homes are just a couple miles from the Cottonwood Airport, but neighbors say they never imagined one of those planes would crash where they live.
"I was very surprised, very shocked," Boykin said. "People always ask, ‘Are you afraid a plane is gonna crash?’ And I'm always like, ‘Nope,’ and then there's a plane in the backyard."
According to the Verde Valley Fire District, there were people at home when the plane crashed, but no one inside was hurt.
Neighbors say they're grateful because it could have been much worse.