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WEBVTT COVERAGE STARTINGWITH JOHN ATWATER WHO IS INMETHUEN.JOHN THEPLANE STILL LODGED INTHE ROOF OF THE COMPLEX.IT IS COVERED WITH A TARP UNTILINVESTIGATORS FROM THE NTSB CANGET UP THERE TOMORROW AND TAKE ACLOSER LOOK.THE IMPACT WAS TERRIFYING.>> WE WERE WATCHING TV AND THEWHOLE PLACE SHIP.JOHN: THE SMALL SINGLEENGINEPLANE SLICED THROUGH THE ROOF.>> INSULATION COME FLYING OVERTHE ROOF.JOHN: PILALAN LAVENDER WASPRACTICING TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGSIN THE EXPERIMENT TO PLANE HEBUILT HIMSELF BUT SOMETHING WENTTERRIBLY WRONG.X MORE OF A MOTOR SOUND BUT ITWAS LIKE A HEAVY SOUND.JOHN: THE AIRCRAFT WAS ON FINALAPPROACH TO ORANGE MUNICIPALAIRPORT ACROSS THE NEARBYMERRIMACK RIVER.>> IT WAS A HUGE BOOM.>> KIND OF IN SHOCK.TO THINK HOW CLOSE IT WAS.JOHN: THIS WOMANWAS FEET AWAYSING OUTSIDE ON A NEARBYBALCONY.INSIDE, THE DAMAGE IS EXTENSIVEBUT THE TIME OF DAY LIKELY SAVEDTHIS CONDO OWNERS LIVE.>> I AM A LUCKY PERSON IN THEFACT I WAS NOT THERE.I USUALLY WORK THEY COULD HAVEBEEN ANY TIME OF DAY.IT COULD HAVE IT AT HOME ORLATER TONIGHT.JOHN: THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHEDBY SPRINKLERS BUT AMAZINGLYDESPITE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE, NO ONEON THE GROUND WAS EVEN HURT.LUCKILY, NO ONE HEARD IN THISCRASH BUT THERE ARE A FEW DOZENPEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THIS BUILDINGWHO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN

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A pilot from Newburyport was killed when his small plane crashed through the roof of a condominium complex in Methuen. Members of the National Transportation Safety Board are on the scene Wednesday. The crash happened at 1:25 p.m. Tuesday, at Pride's Crossing Condominiums on Riverview Boulevard in Methuen, according to state police. The complex is across the Merrimack River from Lawrence Municipal Airport. The pilot, Alan Lavender, was killed. "He was on the side, he wasn't straight down. He was trying to get to the pond ... you could see it," a witness said, adding the engine was making a "sputtering sound." According to radio traffic between the tower and the plane, Lavender took off from Lawrence Municipal Airport at 12:59 p.m. to practice takeoffs and landings. His last transmission was about three minutes later while he was in the pattern to land. The FAA said the Sonex aircraft was on a final approach to Runway 14 at Lawrence Municipal Airport when it crashed. "We were watching TV and the whole place shook," one resident said, standing with her husband outside the complex. "He went outside and the plane was on top of the roof. We couldn't believe it." The aircraft was described as a "home-built, single engine experimental plane" by investigators. The plane crashed into two condo units, but no one was home in either one. No injuries were reported to anyone in the building or on the ground. “I’m a lucky person in the fact that I wasn’t there,” Mike Paglieroni, the owner of damaged condo said. “I know I usually work during those hours, but it could’ve been any time of the day. I could’ve been home. It could’ve been later at night.” From Sky5, a hole with what appeared to be the tail of the plane sticking out of the roof could be seen. A small fire broke out after the crash. "I could see a lot of smoke coming out the back. It was hard to see because it was up a few hundred feet," a witness said. The FAA, NTSB, State Police and the Essex County District Attorney's Office are investigating the crash. 5 Investigates has learned that Lavender, a former Newburyport city councilman, got his pilot certification in May 2014 and is certified as a sport pilot, which means he has fewer hours of training and fewer requirements than a private pilot and is not licensed to carry passengers. The plane involved in the crash flew for the first time in May 2016. This is the second time a plane has crashed into the complex. Four people -- three adults and one child -- were seriously injured in a 1999 crash.