Three injured when plane makes hard landing at Arcadia airport

Three were hospitalized after a plane ran off a runway, ending up in a ditch at Arcadia Municipal Airport Monday.

Jessica Geller was on her way to pick up her 13-year-old daughter at the airport when she noticed a convoy of first responders blow past her.

“Five seconds later I got the call from my daughter that there had been an accident. The first thing she said is ‘mom, I’m okay. Please don’t worry,'” Geller said.

Geller says when she got there, all she could see was blood.

“Her uncle, his face was pouring blood and her aunt was laying on the wing of the plane and there was just so much blood that I couldn’t tell whose was who,” she said.

Geller says her daughter was sitting in the back seat while the teen’s aunt and uncle were up front. The girl’s uncle was a registered pilot.

“He’s been a pilot for 20 plus years and never had a mishap or nothing ever close to an accident. She goes with them every other month,” Geller said.

But during the landing, the FAA says he lost control of the plane and crashed into a ditch.

“To me it looks like the brakes locked up and the engine wouldn’t cut off and so they turned onto the grass, and going at the speed they went nose down into a ditch,” Geller said.

But she’s also extremely grateful they all survived.

“I was hysterical. It was very traumatic coming up to that and not knowing what to expect,” she said.

Officials say they are still investigating what exactly happened with the landing. All three on board the plane are in the hospital, and all are expected to survive.

The FAA released the following statement:

“A BEECH A36 aircraft lost control while landing on runway 24 at Arcadia Municipal Airport in Florida and ran off into a ditch around 4:05 pm today. Three people were on board. Local authorities will release names and conditions. The FAA will investigate.”