SHIMI VALLY, Calif. — A small plane crashed into a Simi VA neighborhood on Saturday afternoon, killing two people and a dog and hurting two homes on the plane, authorities said.
Firefighters responded, police were close to the streets and warned people to avoid the area. You can see smoke swirling from the roof of one of the homes in the community’s Wood Ranch section, close to 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
The wreckage could be seen between the two houses. The Ventura County Fire Department confirmed that residents were inside at the time, but said they had evacuated without reported injuries. Both homes maintained structural damage and were affected by the fire, authorities said.
Approximately 40 firefighters were on the scene. Once the flames came out, they began working on rescue.
Authorities initially reported the death of one person. Later Saturday, the Simi Valley Police Department said the plane’s pilot, passengers and dogs had been killed.
As of Sunday, authorities had not released information about residents of the RV-10, a single-engine van, a popular homemade plane sold in the form of a kit. They also did not say what caused the crash.
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The plane crashed into the backyard and dining room of Erman Hobachemian. Hobachemian told the Los Angeles Times that he was working in the yard when he noticed the plane above and was circling downwards in a hillside neighborhood.
He runs in to get his wife, Ahmine and Pomerania dog Coco, and they flee their wealth. He said he continued loudly, and his torso landed where he was standing in the yard soon.
“I’m paralyzed. I haven’t sunk yet,” Hobachemian said Saturday as dozens of firefighters and police officers surrounded his home. “I was lucky enough to leave.”
In security video recorded by a neighbor viewed by the Times, the plane can be heard circling the neighborhood for almost three minutes and flying near the home of the point. In another video, you can see the plane shoot straight into the clouds and fall again.
National Traffic Safety Commission investigators were also at the scene on Saturday. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said once the plane’s wreckage is documented, it will be moved to a safe facility for further evaluation.
Investigators will also look at plane maintenance records, weather forecasts, air traffic control communication records, witness statements, pilot backgrounds, and surveillance video that may have filmed the aircraft.
In January, another van’s RV-10 crashed into a warehouse in Fullerton southeast of Los Angeles, attempting to make an emergency landing, killing the pilot and his teenage daughter and injuring 19 people inside the building. According to a preliminary report issued by the NTSB, the plane appeared to have Ajar holding the door while it was flying.
It could be a few weeks before NTSB releases its preliminary findings for Simi Valley Crash. The final report will come in a few months.
