Plane Down On City Street

Three men aboard a DC-3 were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries Monday after their cargo flight made a forced landing on a city street near Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Aerial photographs of the scene made it clear the pilot threaded the needle in keeping the aircraft from ploughing into homes on either side of the street.

"As much as possible it landed on a roadway," Oakland Park, FL, Fire Rescue spokesman David Rafter, told NBC6/Miami. "I don't know if it caused incidental damage to structures (on the ground)."

The aircraft, registered to John W. Andrews of Wichita Falls, TX, burned and was completely destroyed after it pancaked in, wheels up, on the residential street.

Those aboard, identified as pilot Charles Riggs, copilot Charles Wirt and passenger Hector Espinoza, were all said to be in fair condition at a local hospital.

"This DC-3, which looked in pretty good condition," witness Jay Huber told the TV station. "This plane was just pancaking, nose up, engines going like hell, like it was trying to stay up, and it was only about 150 feet in air."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov