By Dave DeNatale, Sia Nyorkor and Hunter Bertram via Signal Akron news partner 3News.

Akron police and fire confirmed to Signal Akron news partner 3News that two people are dead after their plane crashed into a home in Akron’s Coventry Crossing neighborhood on Thursday afternoon.

The crash happened at approximately 3:45 p.m. in the 2200 block of Canterbury Circle, which is located in the southern-most part of the city.

Akron fire officials responded to reports of heavy black smoke in the area. When crews arrived, they found fire and smoke showing from the house. Two homes were evacuated and no residents were reported as injured.  

First responders say the two victims were found dead inside the aircraft. Their identities have not yet been released.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports that the aircraft was a 1963 Piper Cherokee. The plane had departed from Akron Fulton Airport, located approximately four miles east of the crash site. 

“The crash remains an active investigation, and troopers, local law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel continue to assess the scene. Residents are encouraged to avoid the area while emergency crews remain on site,” the OSHP added in a release.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation.

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Akron Fire Department responds

During a press conference at the scene, Akron Fire Department District Chief Sierjie Lash told reporters that officials first received a call that residents saw a plane going down into the house. 

“We got more calls that people heard explosions and we arrived to heavy smoke coming out of the house and we addressed it, approached it as a house fire,” she explained. 

The home suffered significant damage as a result of the plane crash. Lash explained that Akron fire investigators will work with the Ohio State Fire Marshal to determine the house’s structural integrity. 

The tail section of a small plane that crashed crashed into a house in Akron's Coventry Crossing neighborhood on Thursday afternoon at approximately 3:45 p.m. sits on the ground at the edge of what remains of the house. Akron police and fire confirmed that two people in the plane died. Two homes were evacuated and no residents were reported as injured.
The tail section of a small plane that crashed into a house in Akron’s Coventry Crossing neighborhood on Thursday afternoon at approximately 3:45 p.m. sits on the ground at the edge of what remains of the house. Akron police and fire confirmed that two people in the plane died. Two homes were evacuated and no residents were reported as injured. (Screenshot via 3News video)

Lash added that the department was being “very protective” of all of the nearby residents, given the proximity of houses near the crash scene.

Neighbors told 3News they are coming together via the neighborhood’s social media group to help collect items and support the families affected by this tragedy.

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