At Least Four Dead After Two Private Planes Collide in Air Over Southern California

[leobold1]

FOXNews.com - At Least Four Dead After Two Private Planes Collide in Air Over Southern California - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Sunday, January 20, 2008

CORONA, Calif. — Two private planes flying about a mile from an airport collided Sunday, killing at least four people as debris rained down on car dealerships below, authorities said.

The planes, both small Cessnas, collided at 3:35 p.m. about a mile from the small Corona Municipal Airport and just north of the Riverside Freeway, said FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

Three of the dead were from the planes and the fourth was in a car hit by debris on the ground, Kenitzer said.

"There were bodies falling out of the sky," eyewitness Hector Hernandez told KCBS-TV. "One of them crashed into the top of a Ford Mustang, and another one fell not too far behind that one on the parking lot."

"The smaller aircraft ... just disintegrated into pieces, maybe fifty pieces coming down," eyewitness Jeff Hardin told KABC-TV. "The other aircraft pretty much stayed intact and started spiraling down and came down right behind the Nissan dealer."

Wreckage fell on car dealerships in Riverside County about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and television pictures showed that the smashed fuselage of one of the planes landed atop a parked car.

Witnesses on the ground saw the planes crash and called 911, said Corona Police Sgt. Jerry Pawluczenko.

"We're going through the dealerships to make sure everyone's accounted for and nobody's injured," said Pawluczenko.

Click here for report from MyFOXLA.com.

[Woodmonkey]

How awful for everyone. I hope the death rate doesn't climb.