OCALA, Fla. — Two people were killed Thursday after a small plane clipped an SUV and crashed just off a busy state highway near a shopping center off Interstate 75 in Ocala.

  • Small plane crashes near shopping center off I-75 in Ocala
  • 2 people aboard plane were killed, Ocala Police say
  • Law enforcement urging motorists to avoid area of SR 200

The crash happened on Southwest College Road, also known as State Road 200, near the Marketstreet at Heathbrook shopping center.

The plane, a Beechcraft Baron, was taking off for a maintenance flight from Ocala International Airport but ran into trouble, police said. As the pilot tried to land the plane on S.R. 200 in front of a shopping center, it clipped a gold SUV and crashed on the side of the roadway.

The two people aboard the plane were killed. Police identified them as pilot Peter Morrow and mechanic Christopher Belcher. Morrow had taken off in Punta Gorda and had decided to stop in Ocala to dodge bad weather. On the way there, he reported "an issue" and decided to have it looked at, an Ocala Police detective wrote in a report.

On the ground in Ocala, Morrow and Belcher tested the plane but couldn't replicate the problem, so they decided to take it on a maintenance flight. The plane crashed just before noon.

The person inside the SUV was injured and told investigators he thought another vehicle hit him. He was transported to a hospital.

“One of the other things that we are taught as pilots is to make sure that we don't endanger the lives of others as much as possible, so definitely attempting to minimize that was some thoughtfulness on the pilot's part,” said Any Chan, founder of Right Rudder Aviation.

A witness who contacted us said they saw the plane hit a Toyota SUV, land hard on the sidewalk and burst into flames.

Pictures sent to us from someone at the site show firefighters spraying water on a smoldering wreck just off the street, with police blocking the roadway.

Another eyewitness who said they work in the area tells us it appeared that power lines were down. They said there were black scorch marks on the roadway, and there was a burning pile of metal on the side of the road.

Florida Department of Transportation officials urged motorists to be prepared for traffic delays in the area "for an unknown length of time." All lanes of S.R. 200 between 60th and 40th finally opened up again Thursday night. 

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.