The congregation of Hope Missionary Baptist Church, near Lakeland, Florida, was in the middle of the service on Sunday when members heard a sound from above. Within seconds many of the 300 worshippers, including two nurses, were in the parking lot pulling the seriously injured pilot of a Cirrus SR22 out of the aircraft and surveying the wreckage after the aircraft crashed into the parking lot of the church about noon on Sunday. Photos from the scene suggest the Cirrus did not come down under its parachute as it was torn apart in the crash and had enough energy to flip at least one of the six vehicles it hit.
The aircraft is a 2005 model owned by M3 Aero Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware. The airplane came down a long way from Lakeland Linder Airport, next to Highway 17 between Winter Haven and Bartow. At first, churchgoers thought the noise was lightning but someone went outside to check and that mobilized the congregation. The pilot was taken to a local hospital and his condition was not being publicized late Sunday.
