At least two people have died and many others were injured after a small plane crashed into a commercial building in southern California on Thursday, police said.
“There are two confirmed fatalities, ten individuals were transported to area hospitals for treatment and eight individuals were treated and released on scene. The investigation is ongoing,” posted the Fullerton Police Department.
The plane crashed less than two minutes after taking off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County, located just 10 km from Disneyland, according to AP, quoting the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Police said the plane crashed in the 2300 block of Raymer Ave.
The single-engine Van’s RV-10 crashed at 14:15PST (20:15GMT), according to the Federal Aviation Administration, reported BBC.
According to the AP report, the plane crashed through the roof of a sprawling furniture manufacturing building where at least 200 people were working.
The identities of the people who died, and whether they were in the plane or on the ground, was not yet known, said Fullerton police spokesperson Kristy Wells, the report said.
It is unclear whether the two people who died were workers or were on board the plane.
A Deadly December For Aviation
The California plane crash followed some major aviation disasters at the fag end of 2024.
Aviation mishaps occurred in different locations across the globe in December within a few days with the deadliest taking place in South Korea where Jeju Air’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway to erupt in flames when it slammed a wall at Muan International Airport.
At least 179 people died on Dec. 28-Dec. 29.
The plane was carrying 181 passengers, including six crew members, when the mishap occurred at the airport, marking one of the deadliest aviation crashes in the country.
Ahead of the South Korea tragedy, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow.
According to reports not denied by Moscow, it is likely that the Russian air defence system warding off against Ukrainian drone strikes downed the plane by mistake.
(With inputs from Reuters)
