FULLERTON (CNS) – A small plane crashed through the roof of a commercial building just east of Fullerton Airport Thursday, sparking a fire in the structure, leaving one dead and 15 injured.
The crash occurred shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the 2300 block of Raymer Avenue, according to the Fullerton Police Department, which responded to the scene with Fullerton and Orange County Fire Authority crews and worked to evacuate the building. Reports from the scene indicated the building is a furniture warehouse.
Video from the scene showed a gaping hole in the building’s roof where the plane struck it.
Fire crews and paramedics assembled nearby to treat potential victims.
Fifteen people were injured with nine taken to area hospitals and the rest treated on scene, said Kristy Wells of the Fullerton Police Department. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.
It was not clear if the fatality was the plane’s pilot, Wells said.
It was unclear if any more people were in the building, but it appears everyone was able to get out, Wells said.
A Fullerton Police Department lieutenant told NBC4 at the scene that the airplane, which had taken off from Fullerton Airport and was returning to land at the airfield when it crashed, was a home-made four-seater. It was unclear how many people were aboard.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported it was a single-engine Van’s RV-10 that crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash with the FAA.
Fullerton Airport is the only general aviation airport in Orange County, according to the city.
In November, a single-engine plan crashed in the 2400 block of Artesia Avenue, also just east of Fullerton Airport, leaving the two people aboard with “moderate” injuries. That plane also crashed while trying to land at the airport.
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