2 dead after small plane crashes into house in Coventry Crossing

Two people were killed May 14 when a small airplane crashed into a home in the Coventry Crossing development near Firestone Country Club, authorities have confirmed.

The Akron Fire Department said two people who were aboard the plane died. It was not immediately clear if there were other casualties.

The crash occurred at 3:45 p.m.

In moments, the quiet neighborhood erupted in chaos.

“We heard this humongous, loud thud,” Canterbury Circle neighbor Jewell Ulrich said. “Instantly, all of us came running out. We saw that the airplane had hit the house. The fire was just instantly going.”

She and her husband, Steve, ran over with other neighbors to make sure that everyone got out of the house.

“That fire was instant,” she said. “It was so hot. And then you could see the tail of the airplane sitting right there. The fire was just blazing.”

“The tail was just hanging out of the garage,” Steve said.

“The one wing of the plane was on the ground right between the houses,” Jewell said.

Property records show that Colton “C.J.” Laudato owns the home that the plane struck at 2238 Canterbury Circle. The house at 2240 Canterbury also was damaged.

Next-door neighbor Michael Phillips was at home with his family when the crash occurred.

“The power flickered in our house,” he said. “The next thing we heard within five to eight seconds was a boom and then a big boom. We came outside and the house was on fire.”

Phillips ran back inside and told his wife and daughter to get out.

“C.J. came flying out the front door with his kids,” he said. “He walked over, I grabbed his kids and he went back in and got the dog.”

Smoke rising from the site could be seen from downtown Akron, and first responders from multiple communities and agencies were sent. The site was quickly cordoned off and traffic diverted away from the neighborhood.

Later in the afternoon, an airplane from the Ohio State Highway Patrol was seen flying over the scene, and a vehicle from the Summit County Medical Examiner’s office arrived.

Besides the Highway Patrol, the Federal Aviation Administration also responded, the Akron Fire Department said.

As of 4 p.m. May 15, the identities of the individuals aboard the plane had not been released.

The American Red Cross of Northern Ohio said in a social media post that it is assisting four family members whose home was impacted by the crash.

A GoFundMe was created for the family by C.J.’s mother Christine Laudato with a goal of $16,000. She wrote that C.J. was in the basement at the time of the crash and heard a loud explosion.

“He ran from the basement to the kids sleeping upstairs. He was able to get the kids and the dog out of the house. (Ashley was working). By the time he got out of the house, it was engulfed in flames. A small plane carrying two people crashed into their house. My son and his family were the lucky ones. The pilot and his student unfortunately did not make it,” the post read.

She said the kids have lost everything but that they’re grateful they aren’t asking for assistance for something “much more tragic.”

Other serious plane crashes in Akron

On Nov. 10, 2015, a corporate jet crashed into an Ellet neighborhood, killing all nine on board. No one on the ground was hurt.

The co-pilots and seven pessengers died when the plane crashed into a four-unit apartment building at 3042 Mogadore Road. Real estate investors were on their way from Dayton to Akron when the pilots, from a Florida charter company, lost control while approaching Akron Fulton International Airport in low cloud cover.

On July 4, 2022, a Mogadore pilot and his passenger, a woman from Uniontown, were seriously injured after their Cessna Skyhawk crashed in the parking lot of the Ellet Community Center.

This story has been updated.