A small airplane crashed into a Minnesota house near the Duluth Airport on Saturday, careening through the top floor and then slamming to a halt in the backyard.
The accident killed the pilot and both passengers on the plane. But two people sleeping inside the residence when the plane hit miraculously escaped without injury. Their cat was also unscathed, officials said, according to the New York Post.
The plane severely damaged the home, destroying the top floor and the roof. A video of the wreckage showed the home half destroyed, with part of the upper floor having crashed down onto the outer wall of the first floor.
The plane, a Cessna 1972, came to a halt in the backyard after taking down power lines as it crashed.
The homeowner, Jason Hoffman, told Minnesota Public Radio that he and his wife Crystal were asleep when the plane crashed through the roof directly above their bed.
At first, he thought that the furnace had exploded.
“We couldn’t hardly see each other through all the insulation dust. I was able to grab a flashlight next to the bed and the first thing I saw was an airplane wheel sitting at the end of our bed,” Hoffman said. “That’s when we looked out and noticed the entire back half our house was gone.”
They found their cat unhurt hiding in the basement and then quickly went outside. Once out of their house, they had to carefully walk around power lines that had been taken down by the plane.
“I’m still not sure what to think. It doesn’t seem real at all,” Hoffman said. “We’re just lucky. The loss of life is heartbreaking. At the same time, we’re grateful for making it through this.”