A small plane crashed through the top of a building at Fullerton Municipal Airport on Thursday, killing two people and injuring eighteen more, according to authorities.
The incident was reported shortly after 2:00 p.m., and police and firefighters arrived at a warehouse in the 2300 block of Raymer Avenue. The incident produced a four-alarm fire, which blasted a cloud of dense black smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.
Dozens of employees were evacuated from the building as crews fought the fire. Later, the fire was put out.
Many individuals fled the premises in terror, according to one employee.
“I’ve been working for this company for five years, and every day there’s a plane going down here,” witness Jerome Cruz remarked, gesturing toward the sky. “I said ‘One day it’s going to fall down on our roof’ and I think today (was) the day.”
Eight of the 18 injured were treated on the spot and released, while the other 10 were transported to a hospital. It’s unknown if the two fatalities were on board the aircraft.
As the plane seemed to plunge into the building while turned on its side, security camera footage shows a spectacular explosion and a sizable column of black smoke. A person running with their arm on fire was depicted in another video taken inside the flaming structure.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported the plane was a single-engine Van’s RV-10.
The plane was returning to the airport when it impacted the structure, approximately 300 yards from the airport runway. FlightAware, a website that tracks flights, reports that the plane took off at 2:07 p.m. and crashed two minutes later.
The crash will be looked into by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
In November, a small plane crashed near Fullerton Airport, near Gilbert Street and Artesia Avenue, injuring two people.