'A miracle' that family in home unhurt in plane crash

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Woman, 7-year-old son escape injury

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  • First responders are pictured at the scene of a plane crash at Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (ROBERT BRIDGES/Lake City Reporter)
    First responders are pictured at the scene of a plane crash at Cannon Creek Airpark Saturday morning. (ROBERT BRIDGES/Lake City Reporter)
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Rhonda and Jack Russell of Lake City were on the way to their daughter’s home in the Creekside subdivision to pick up their grandson, who had a basketball game Saturday morning at Parkview Baptist, when they got the call.

“Our daughter said a plane had just hit their house,” Rhonda said at the scene about an hour after the crash, which occurred shortly before 10 a.m. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

They got there a few minutes later to find their daughter, Shane Renee Thomson and son Ethan, 7, outside and unharmed.

“It is a miracle,” Rhonda said.

Shane Renee was standing by the front window of the home when the plane struck and Ethan was playing his keyboard just a few feet away.

“Then all of the sudden it hit,” Rhonda said. “She saw a flash of orange as it exploded.”

The plane, which took off from nearby Cannon Creek airpark, struck the roof above a bay window on the front of the home then disintegrated and burned. The pilot, who was killed, has not been identified and it was not immediately clear where the flight originated. 

Shane Renee and Ethan escaped through the garage. “There were flames but they ducked down and got out,” Rhonda said.

On the way out they grabbed Ethan’s toy Chewbacca of Star Wars fame from the laundry room.

“It stunk of smoke,” Rhonda said. “We’re going to get him a new one.”

Shane Renee is upset and Ethan is “pretty scared,” Jack Russell said. “It’s almost like he’s in shock.”

Jack and Rhonda were grateful their daughter and grandson were safe, but their hearts went out to the family of the pilot.

“It’s an awful thing,” Jack said. 

The Red Cross is poised to offer aid to Shane Renee and Ethan but Rhonda said she and Jack were there to take care of them.

Along with all their neighbors.

“They have wonderful neighbors here,” Rhonda said.

The home is damaged with a hole in the roof but appears structurally intact from the outside.

The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and state fire marshal have been notified, county fire chief Jeff Crawford said.