VENICE, FL—Police at the Venice Municipal Airport terminal said they heard an explosion and then saw black smoke coming from the runway Sunday afternoon.
Airport firefighters were dispatched to an aircraft fire at the end of a runway at around 12:36 p.m., according to the Sarasota County 9-1-1 dispatch log. The fire was called out around 12:57 p.m., according to Brianne Grant, a spokesperson with Sarasota County.
A small aircraft was on Runway 5 at the Venice Municipal Airport headed for takeoff when the pilot smelled smoke in the Piper PA-32 Cherokee 6, a single-engine, six-seater, prompting both the pilot and his passenger to exit the plane, according to City of Venice spokesperson Lorraine Anderson. The aircraft then became fully engulfed in flames soon afterward.
Both occupants of the aircraft, two men, escaped injury, according to Airport Director Mark Cervasio.
Allen Rieke was one of those occupants. Rieke, who was the the plane's lone passenger, said everything seemed normal as they prepared for takeoff and continued to seem normal until they got to the end of the runway and noticed smoke coming from under the wing where the landing gear is located. That's when he and the pilot jumped out of the plane in a hurry. It was covered in flames by the time he reached for the fire extinguisher.
"I told him (the pilot), we're not going to be able to save it," said Rieke. "I was totally amazed at how fast it spread. It was within seconds. We're still scratching our heads at how this happened. We had just took off and landed a couple hours earlier with no issues at all; everything was perfectly normal, everything was exactly the same this time until all of a sudden it wasn't."
The Sarasota County Emergency Services posted from its official Twitter account, @scgovEOC, that the Sarasota County Fire Department and Venice Police were on the scene. They reported the fire was under control and there were no injuries or medical transports.
The 2019 Chalk Festival is being held this weekend (Nov. 15-18) at the Venice Airport closer to Tamiami Trail about a mile away from the scene of the aircraft emergency.
A photographer at the scene said when they approached the 1900 block of Harbor Drive South, there were bystanders in cars lining both sides of the road watching the plane burn. Multiple fire trucks, two ambulances and at least a dozen police cars assisted at the scene. A witness who saw the small plane on fire said that it seemed to occur at the end of the runway located across from Venice dog beach Brohard Paw Park.
Venice Fire arrived on scene to extinguish the blaze, assisted by the Sarasota County Fire Department and the County Hazmat team. Venice Police were also on scene.
According to Venice Fire Battalion Chief Steve Worobel, the plane was full of fuel at 80 gallons. Hazmat was able to recover and mitigate 30 gallons of fuel at the scene.
Airport officials will investigate, and runway 5-23 will remain closed until the investigation is completed. All other runways and airport facilities are open.
The cabin of the plane appeared to have significant damage, while the tail and prop were still intact. Venice Police were interviewing two people in plain clothes nearby.
"It wasn't scary. It was more like 'I can't believe this is happening.' But we're all good, so everything is fine," said Rieke. "I'm just glad we didn't get in the air when that happened, because it would have been a different outcome."
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