PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A small plane crash-landed in a church parking lot on Saturday night near Graham.
Graham Fire and Rescue crews were called to the 18700 block of 187th Street East.
Officials said that three people were on the plane when it lost power.
All three were able to walk away from the crash without injury, first responders said. There were two student pilots and the flight instructor on the plane.
Officials said the instructor took over the controls when it lost power and landed the plane in an empty parking lot.
“They were trying to pick a place to put it because the plane was falling fast, so they had an open field and they tried to set it down in the field. He was afraid he wasn’t going to make the field because of the houses, so they kind of aimed for a parking lot and here’s where they landed,” Grant Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Steve Richards said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
It was the second plane crash in Puyallup this week.
A 53-year-old pilot flying from Thun Field to his home airport in Auburn survived after he crash-landed into a car on Thursday afternoon in a South Hill parking lot.
According to Pierce County sheriff’s deputies, the small plane lost power after takeoff.