Mystery as billionaire Dan Petrescu’s plane ‘burst into flames 16 seconds before hitting building killing all on board’
THE plane flown by billionaire Dan Petrescu burst into flames 16 seconds before hitting a building, it was reported.
The reasons for the single engine plane plummeting from the sky soon after taking off from Milan airport remain a mystery.
All eight people on board the aircraft were killed during the tragedy.
Petrescu, 68, was one of Romania's richest men and had been travelling with his son Dan Stefan Petrescu, 30, and his 65-year-old wife Regina Petrescu.
Witnesses said the plane burst into flames and made what investigators call a "vertical fall" 16 seconds before it hit the ground, Corriere della Serra reports.
The Pilatus PC-12 single engine plane took off from the main runway at Linate airport at 1.04pm local time.
It performed a right hand turn that would have taken it on its route to Olbia in Sardinia but instead of heading south it went towards the suburb of San Donato.
Frantic controllers asked the billionaire "why did you divert?" as the aircraft veered off course.
The plane was travelling at about 200mph when it slammed into the building in a fireball 11 minutes after take off.
Filippo Nascimbene, his wife Claire Alexandrescou, their one-year-old son Rafael, and her mother Miruna Anca Wanda Lozinschi, were all also killed in the tragedy, Rainews.it reports.
Nascimbene was an Italian-born businessman and his wife and mother were French.
Also on the plane was Petrescu's son's Canadian friend 36-year-old Julien Brossard.
Mrs Petrescu was also a dual-national and held a French passport, while her son had been working in Canada.
Their plane was on its way to the island of Sardinia to visit Mr Petrescu's 98-year-old mother at the family villa.
Petrescu, who also held Germany nationality, headed a major construction firm and owned a string of hypermarkets and mall, Italian media have reported.
According to the Romanian newspaper Adevarul, Petrescu was worth 3billion euros.
Firefighters rushed to the scene but the pilot and passengers died at the scene.
Witnesses have recalled the moment the plane plummeted out of the sky and smashed into the building, which was thankfully empty .
One named as Andrea, 19, told tgcom.24.: "I saw the plane lose control. I saw it just as it crashed. I saw it dive.
'FLAMES IN THE SKY'
"The plane was low. And then there was a lot of smoke, flames in the sky. Pieces were flying. I was very scared."
Emergency workers said several cars in a nearby parking lot were set ablaze, but apparently the vehicles were unoccupied at the time.
"The plane hit the building on the facade, with an extremely violent impact," said Carlo Cardinali from Milan fire brigade.
“The pilot made a turn, so he noticed some anomaly.”
A thick column of dark smoke rose from the crash site and was visible for miles around the site
Firefighters were extinguishing the flames of the now-charred building, which reportedly was under renovation.
Speaking at the scene, Milan prosecutor Tiziana Siciliano, said "there does not appear to have been an alarm launched from board".
The plane's black box has been recovered and prosecutors have opened an investigation.
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