L.A unreal.Small Plane Crashes Into L.A. Crowd, One Dead
By ANDREW BRIDGES
.c The Associated Press
SAN DIMAS, Calif. (July 4) - A small private plane crashed into a Fourth of July crowd at a public park Thursday, killing one person and injuring 16, some of them children picnicking with their families, firefighters said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the crash ''sounds completely like an accident.'' FAA officials said the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Brackett Field, a small airport near the park, but never gained altitude.
''The wings clipped on the trees. It went nose first. Bodies flying all over the place,'' said witness Javier Franco. He said two girls were trapped under the plane.
''Other people took the bodies out of the plane. I can't forget seeing the bodies on the ground,'' he said.
The plane hit a tree and then broke in two after it crashed, witnesses said.
The crash killed one adult. Five of the injured were children, and three of them were in critical condition, including an 18-month-old baby and 12-year-old girl, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Mark Savage. Ten of the people had minor injuries, Savage said.
The pilot and a passenger on the plane survived, said FAA spokesman Jerry Johnston. Firefighters said they were not sure how many people were on the plane.
The twin-engine Cessna 310, which seated four, crashed near a lake at Frank G. Bonnelli Regional Park, also known as Puddingstone, where hundreds of people were celebrating the Fourth of July. The park is about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.
AP-NY-07-04-02 1847EDT |
