A quiet Saturday afternoon turned tragic when a single-engine plane crashed into a home in Brooklyn Park, a northern suburb of Minneapolis, just after noon on March 29, 2025. The fiery crash killed everyone onboard, though remarkably, the family inside the house escaped unharmed.
The aircraft, a SOCATA TBM7—a high-performance, seven-seat turboprop—was traveling from Des Moines International Airport in Iowa to Anoka County-Blaine Airport, roughly 20 miles from the crash site. It took off at 11:12 a.m., and was due to land at 12:20 p.m. Instead, at that exact moment, it plunged into a residential neighborhood near Kyle Avenue and Noble Parkway, igniting a fire that quickly engulfed the home. Homeowner Kenneth Tobacman was alone in the house when the plane hit.
“A piece of ceiling fell, then fire was everywhere,” he told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
“I grabbed my phone and ran. Smoke was so thick, I couldn’t even get shoes.”
His wife had been out walking the dog at the time. Both escaped injury, but the couple lost their cat and the home they had lived in for 15 years. “It’s a total wreck,” Tobacman said. Footage from a Ring doorbell camera captured the plane’s steep descent and the moment it struck the house. Flames and black smoke erupted almost instantly.
At a press conference, Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Shawn Conway confirmed the worst:
“We don’t believe anyone on the plane survived.”
The number of people onboard remains unknown, though the TBM7 can seat up to seven. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within an hour, but the crash left behind a chaotic scene of charred wreckage and twisted debris. Several neighboring homes sustained minor damage, but no injuries were reported on the ground, said city spokesperson Risikat Adesaogun. The aircraft is registered to DGW Enterprises, a company based in Edina, Minnesota. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived in Minnesota on Saturday night and were expected to begin their site analysis on Sunday, March 30. Officials will examine whether the cause was mechanical failure, weather conditions, or pilot error. One nearby resident, Henry Tita, said he heard the plane flying low.
“It sounded too close,” he recalled.
“Five seconds later, I heard the bang and knew it went down.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz responded quickly on X, saying state officials were coordinating with local authorities.
“Grateful to the first responders answering the call,” he posted.
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston pledged support for the Tobacman family and others affected.
“We’ll wrap around these families,” he said during a press briefing.
The American Red Cross has provided shelter, clothing, and emergency aid to the Tobacmans, who lost everything but their dog and the clothes they were wearing. Brooklyn Park, home to 82,000 residents, sits just 11 miles north of Minneapolis. Plane crashes are exceedingly rare in the area. Videos shared online showed emergency crews surrounding the home as thick smoke poured into the sky.
“It looked like a movie,” one user wrote on X.
The flight’s 280-mile path from Iowa was uneventful until its final moments. Now, investigators and the community are left asking: What went wrong in the sky above their quiet street?