Milan plane crash: 8 killed as private jet hits building

A private jet crashed into an empty office building in the Milan plane crash, killing all 8 people aboard the craft. The Italian city of Milan witnessed the horrors of the crash and while assistance was brought in, people on the flight were killed by the impact of the collision.

The airplane was being flown by Omanian billionaire Dan Petrescu, who is 68 years old. He passed away alongside his family, including his wife Regina Dorotea and son Dan Stefano, who were all on this flight. The sad news of their demise was given by the Italian media.

The flight was bound for the island of Sardinia and had taken off from Milan’s Linate airport but came down soon after.

With the crash, the office block, as well as several parked cars, were set on fire but fortunately, no one was injured on the ground in the process.

A full-fledged investigation has been launched probing into the cause of the crash. There have been no definitive findings yet.

Some witnesses who were in the area said that the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 that was propelling the aircraft was already on fire when it came crashing down.

A local man named Giuseppe said on being queried – ‘I heard the sound of a plane above me as if the plane was shutting down its engine.’ He further went on to add- ‘Then I heard a very loud explosion, the windows of our house started to shake so I opened the window and saw a huge cloud of smoke rising.’ 

The smoke engulfed the place and firefighters flocked in to tackle the situation.  It was later tweeted by the firefighters that no one other than those on board was killed in the Milan plane crash. 

Other than the family, Italian businessman Filipino Nascimbene along with his wife Claire Stephanie and their child was also killed in the horrifying crash.

Petrescu’s fortune was estimated at around €3bn. He was the head of a major construction firm and was the owner of a chain of hypermarkets and malls. He also had German nationality.

Milan’s prosecutor involved in the case, Tiziana Siciliano, told reporters that the plane was on its way until ‘a certain point, then an anomaly appeared on the radar screen and it plunged’, going ahead to strike the building’s roof. 

The prosecutor added that the plane hadn’t sent out any alarm before and that it was early to identify any possible cause of the crash. The flight’s recorder has been retrieved.

While the smokes spread far and wide, the city of Milan was literally shaken.