The pilot of a single-engine aircraft heading to a small independently-owned airport in San Bernardino County died Thursday morning when his plane crashed into a residence, authorities said. Two people in the house were unhurt.
It was unclear what created the 2007 fixed-wing Cirrus SR-22 to plunge into the single-story home located in the Overland Court near Mountain Avenue in Upland about 11 a.m. Authorities said the National Transport Safety Board would investigate the cause of the crash.
The airplane, which departed from Zamperini Field in Torrance, had been in the air for a few minutes before it crashed. Flight records said the jet was heading to Cable Airport, less than two miles from the community where the plane crashed.
Public records said the plane is registered to a man from Palos Verdes Estates. The pilot, who was not identified, had not been removed from the wreckage by midafternoon local time.
The section hit by the plane was engulfed by fire when the firefighters arrived. A portion of the roof collapsed due the force of the crash.
Occupants inside the home - a father and a toddler - were reportedly uninjured and were able to escape the flames, according to Upland Police Captain Marcelo Blanco.
Video from the scene had a giant parachute hung over a palm tree near the home. Cirrus SR-22, according to its manufacturer, is equipped with an emergency parachute system designed to lower the aircraft to the ground after deploying.
However, Capt. Blanco said the plane did not have a safety parachute. "What transpired right before the plane came down on the house would be investigated by the NTSB," he said.
David Pingree, San Bernardino County firefighter and medic, said the neighbors were "incredibly lucky" that the airplane went down as it did. Residents in the area saw the first moments after the impact.
Anne Burdette, who lives next door, saw the airplanes engulfed in flames. "I heard the impact, it was shocking," she told ABC7 News.
Neighbor Dan Millus was about to take a nap in his bedroom when he heard a massive boom outside. He narrated to Los Angeles Times that he went running out after the loud crash and the house to his east engulfed in flames.
One of Millus' neighbors also told Los Angeles Times they witnessed the plane "choke up" and drop into the house. Millus said he has "never been overly concerned" about the possibility of a plane crash. He added he often hears planes from his residence as he lives near two airports.
Thursday's plane crash is one of the jet's incidents near Cable Airport this year. A pilot flying a German-made plane was injured in May, according to a Los Angeles Times report, after settling down in a field near the airport. Three people suffered injuries in June as a small plane crashed near the Upland Public Works Services Department building.
Cable Airport, according to its website, dubs itself the "world's largest, family-owned public-use airport."