Pilot dies after small plane crashes into New Mexico home

A small plane crashed into a New Mexico home Tuesday morning, leaving the pilot dead and the house destroyed by a raging fire.

The plane, a twin-engine Cessna 310, slammed into the home shortly after taking off from the Santa Fe Regional Airport just after 9 a.m., New Mexico State Police said.

About two minutes later, the pilot, who has not yet been identified, radioed the control tower to report the craft’s left engine had failed.

Within moments, the plane plummeted into the home, where it burst into flames.

Nobody was in the home at the time, according to police.

Fire crews raced to the scene to put out the blaze, but the home was left almost entirely leveled.

Photos from the scene showed the burned-out remains of the house surrounded by heaps of debris.

Cessna 310s are capable of carrying up to 10 passengers, but the pilot was the only person onboard at the time, police said.

The pilot was flying to Santa Monica, California, KOAT reported.

One witness said the plane was flying east, then appeared to begin turning around before it quickly crashed.

“Then there was this huge, massive black smoke,” Nathalie Waldman told the Albuquerque Journal.