MIRAMAR, Fla. – A flight instructor who was critically injured Tuesday in a plane crash in Miramar was identified by executives at Wayman Aviation Academy as Andres Bastidas.
Bastidas has been transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries that include burns.
Authorities said a student pilot, identified as Mark Daniel Scott, 25, died at the scene on the south side of Pembroke Road near the corner of Hiatus Road.
What’s left of the plane is now in a nearby hanger until members of the National Transportation Safety Board can come down to investigate and determine the probable cause of the accident. That might not happen any time soon because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Executives at the flight school say both men were passionate aviators and loved their craft.
According to authorities, Bastidas and Scott were on a routine training flight Tuesday morning when their Piper PA-34 crashed and burst into flames in Miramar.
Dash camera video from a passing driver shows their plane flying dangerously low, clipping power lines seconds before crashing.
“I saw the plane hit the ground,” witness Cedric Jackson said.
The plane departed from North Perry Airport shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Authorities said the men notified the tower they were returning back to the airport before they crashed.
“When it burst up into flames, I felt the heat on my back as if someone had a lighter just sitting there on my shirt. The heat was that close to my back,” Jackson said.
Eddy Luy, the vice president of the Wayman Aviation Academy, which the plane was registered to, said Scott and Bastidas had only been in the air for a short period of time before the crash, and that they were both experienced.
He said Scott only had months left of training to complete.
Authorities said a landscaper who was working in the area when the accident took place was hit by debris, but was not seriously injured.