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Thursday, February 28, 2008 Crash onto street near Riverside Municipal
Airport kills three
RIVERSIDE - Three people were killed when a plane heading toward Riverside
Municipal Airport crashed onto a residential street at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday,
sending flames at least 20 feet into the air. All three people killed were on the plane. No one on the ground was injured,
Riverside fire officials who responded to the crash said. Residents watch after a plane
crashed onto Pembroke Avenue near Talley Court on Wednesday night in the city of
Riverside. Authorities said at least three people, all on the plane, were killed. The
plane reportedly hit an unoccupied parked car on the ground. The plane just missed hitting the houses lining Pembroke Avenue near the
intersection of Talley Court, less than a quarter-mile from the airport. The
plane smashed into a parked car on the ground. The identities of the victims were not available late Wednesday and the
cause of the crash was not immediately known. Federal investigators had not yet
arrived late Wednesday and calls to the airport were not answered. Witnesses said the plane appeared to be flying toward the airport when it
went down. "What I saw was a big ball of flames," said Terri Huerta, whose
house is just 30 feet from the crash. Steve Kiser said he was outside of his home when he saw the plane coming
toward him. It barely made it over power lines near his home, he said, adding
it appeared to come straight for the houses when it veered and nose-dived onto
Pembroke. "I knew he wasn't going to make it," said Kiser, who added that the
plane sounded like it had engine trouble. "It blew up and all the trees
caught on fire. It was pretty upsetting." A man who had just finished taking a flight lesson at the airport heard the
crash. "It sounded like they were trying to climb, then there was a sound like
it crashed," said Marlon Choyce, of Lake Elsinore. "We ran outside
and my instructor saw the smoke." It is the second fatal crash near Riverside Municipal Airport in the past 10
years. Wednesday night's crash happened a little over a month after a mid-air
collision between two small planes near Corona Municipal Airport killed five people,
including one on the ground who was hit by falling debris. The cause of that crash remains under investigation by the National
Transportation Safety Board. The city of Corona formed a task force to study
safety at the airport after the Jan. 20 crash. Riverside Municipal Airport is 451 acres. It has two runways that can
accommodate small corporate jets. The airport has an control tower operated by the Federal Aviation
Administration. The tower operates from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., according to the
airport's Web site. |
