Horror video shows firey plane wreckage after dad, 45, is killed steering jet away from homes after it plunged from sky
A DAD has been killed after his plane crashed and erupted into a fireball just feet from houses.
Jason McKenzie, 45, has been hailed a hero after using his piloting skills to avoid hurting anyone else as his jet plunged to the ground.
![Beloved father, 45, is killed as his plane smashes into wealthy neighborhood and bursts into flames just inches away from multi-million dollar mansions – as his final act of heroism is revealed, Jason McKenzie, 45, was killed after his plane struck a tree on Thursday, The fiery wreck crash landed in Augusta, Georgia at around […]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/final-act-heroism-revealed-jason-898510936_1f976c.jpg)
He was returning to an airfield in Georgia when his plane smashed to the ground in a fiery wreckage on Thursday morning.
Shocking pictures show his aircraft reduced to a raging inferno just outside two mansions.
Emergency workers believe McKenzie, an associate director of philanthropy at Augusta University, used his skills as a pilot to ensure no one else was killed or injured.
Neighbour Lisa Lewis told WRDW: "I think it was a miracle.
"I think the Lord protected everyone else."
McKenzie had taken off from Daniel Field and was heading towards New Haven, Connecticut, when his Beechcraft Bonanza A36 went down.
The single-engine jet was just half a mile from the airport when it crashed on Hillcrest Avenue between two homes.
As it plunged, it clipped a tree - which ripped off the left wingtip.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ralph Hicks said: "It’s very fortunate that this airplane didn’t hit a house."
No one else was on board the plane when it plummeted to the street.
Friend Will Dyer praised McKenzie as a "devoted husband, father and son".
He told WRDW: "He loved his community, his work, and his church. But most of all, I know that Jason loved Jesus.
"He was a faithful and committed follower of Christ. His faith was the guiding principle in his life and I trust that his faith is what led him into eternity.
"My life is better because Jason played a role in it."
Augusta University, where Jason worked since 2020, said in a tribute: "His passion for the university and our athletics programmes was unsurpassed.
"We are keeping Jason's family, friends, colleagues in our thoughts and prayers."