Plane crashes into US suburb
2005-01-22 08:16
Kansas - A twin-engine plane carrying five people crashed into a home in a Kansas City suburb, hurling debris across the area, igniting fires and leaving a trail of destruction in the well-to-do neighbourhood. Everyone on board was killed.
The Cessna 421C Golden Eagle III, which went down shortly after takeoff on Friday, clipped a street lamp and several trees as it broke up, slamming into two vehicles and coming to rest at the foundation of a home. No one on the ground was hurt.
The crash spread aviation fuel and wreckage across a several-block area. A truck and a sport utility vehicle hit by the downed plane were destroyed - the pickup flipped over and caught fire. The back porch of the home - owned by former Kansas City Royals pitcher Jason Grimsley - was extensively damaged.
The crash came shortly after the plane took off from a local airport. The airport's control tower had handed it over to regional air traffic controllers, who never heard from the pilot, said Bob Perry, the county airport commission's director of aviation.
"That's when they knew there was something wrong," Perry said.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were en route to the scene on Friday night to begin their investigation.
- AP