The pilot left Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport shortly after 11:00am today in his twin-engine Cessna 421. Something went wrong and neighbors reported seeing the plane come in sideways and nose dive into the house. The pilot did not survive but luckily no one was in the house at the time of the crash.

I arrived on the scene after all of the television news trucks were already in place. Trouble was, there was no shot. I asked a couple of the cameramen and they said no one was being allowed near the crash site.






Television news trucks crowd the street, one block from the plane crash site, Fort Lauderdale, FL. I decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if there was a better vantage point and to see if neighbors could tell me anything.


The Channel 7 News helicopter was the only one getting a good shot of the plane crash site.


I walked around the block so I could come up 52nd CT, the street perpendicular to the crash. Fire trucks and police cars completely blocked the view of the crash site. Yellow "Crime Scene" tape marked off an area three houses back from the corner.


This was the best shot from any angle behind the outer perimeter of "Crime Scene" tape. I don't understand why they weren't letting the press come up to the inner line of tape where you could actually get a view of the scene. I completely understand keeping the public at a distance for their own safety but we are professionals and we also have a job to do. Not all of us have a helicopter.

People who lived inside the perimeter were standing in their yards across from the crash site. They weren't being told to leave or go inside their houses. A friend of mine happens to live in one of those houses and I crossed the police line to stand on their porch. A fireman didn't like that I was inside the yellow tape, yelled at me, and said he was going to get a Sheriff's deputy.

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[2 Comments]

comment on Plane Crashes...

18 Apr 2009 12:03pm

"so you didn't have to get a helicopter after all! BTW, if you find a good deal on one i wouldn't mind having a helicopter just for getting around Miami during traffic. Oops, after viewing your photos perhaps i WOULD rather stay on the ground. At least in this lifetime..."
 

Crash imho (BenPalmer)

04 Aug 2009 8:03pm

"Good Job! You got the shots which actually show something without doing anything to offend the gendarmes. Actually timely photographs can help the NTSB investigators. Perhaps one should join the VFD so you would have the authority to be on the crime scene. You might have to carry a spare (cheap) camera in case it gets confiscated for official use by the investigators. PS. I also liked the shots of your models and musicians. That is pretty much what I was looking for to improve my clients' pix."