3 victims identified after plane crashes into Michigan home

LYON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Three people were killed after a small plane crashed into a home in a Detroit suburb on Saturday, authorities said.

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Update 5:44 p.m. ET Jan. 3: The victims killed in the crash were identified Sunday as David S. Compo, former president of the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan, his wife Michele and their son Dawson, WXYZ reported.

According to the TV station, the family was returning from a trip to Canton, Georgia, and David Campo, an experienced pilot, was flying the plane.

Dawson Compo was a recent graduate of Detroit Catholic Central High School, where he was a member of both the band and the cross-country team, WXYZ reported.

David Compo’s term as president of the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan had ended on Dec. 31, the organization said.

“We were fortunate to have David leading our team for 2020,” Michael Stoskopf, the organization’s CEO told the TV station. “His involvement, professionalism and experience over the years have been great assets to our organization, and he has been a true friend to me as we faced challenge after challenge during this past year.”

Original story: According to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, at about 4 p.m. the plane crashed into a home in Lyons Township, located west of Detroit, engulfing it in flames, WDIV reported. The pilot and two passengers aboard the plane died, according to authorities. The residents of the home were able to escape after the plane hit the home, the sheriff said.

The Lyon Township Fire Department and other emergency crews responded to the site, WXYZ reported.

Bouchard said that the residents were evacuated from the house, WDIV reported. The sheriff added that there was no information yet on what type of plane crashed into the house, the television station reported.

The two-story house appeared to suffer extensive damage on both floors, The Detroit News reported.

“You could tell it was really, really low because it was buzzing low down,” Chase Southwick, a neighbor, told the newspaper. “There was a huge cloud of white smoke, I thought, ‘What happened? That plane, because it was so low, what if it crashed?’

“You could see the whole plane, the whole front end of the nose was smashed in,” he said. “We were like, ‘Ohh my God. This could happen to us because we live just one street over. What if this happened to us?’”

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration have been contacted, the News reported.

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