Emergency crews responded to a fatal plane crash near the Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville on Monday morning. The Titusville Fire Department confirmed the crash occurred at 10:16 a.m. and killed the lone passenger, the pilot, whose identity has not yet been released due to the severity of the fire. Witnesses reported the aircraft struck a power line before crashing onto State Road 405 between Sisson Road and South Washington Avenue, just short of the airport’s runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate the crash. The aircraft was identified as a Mooney M20F, a four-seat, propeller-driven plane. Federal Aviation Administration officials, along with the Florida Department of Transportation and Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, were on scene. Power remained out in the area, and Florida Power & Light estimated repairs would take several hours.
Eastbound lanes of Columbia Boulevard reopened by 6 p.m., but westbound lanes remained closed as investigators worked to remove the wreckage. A specialized company from Jacksonville was brought in to extract the aircraft, which sat on the roadway north of the airport and west of the NASA Causeway. The crash site is near the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, though no other vehicles or people were involved in the incident.
The Titusville Police Department said the investigation is ongoing, and the pilot’s identity will be released after positive identification and notification of next of kin. Valiant Air Command, which operates the Warbird Museum and flies aircraft from the airport, confirmed it was aware of the crash but did not immediately comment on its impact.