A small plane crashed into a Simi Valley neighborhood on the afternoon of May 3, authorities said, killing two people who were in the aircraft and hitting two homes that subsequently caught fire.
The pilot, a passenger and a dog in the aircraft died, the Simi Valley Police Department reported in the evening. The identities of the individuals were not reported pending notification of next of kin.
The accident took place around 1:51 p.m. in the 200 block of High Meadow Street, according to preliminary reports from the Ventura County Fire Department. The street cuts east from South Wood Ranch Parkway in the Wood Ranch area.
County Director of Airports Keith Freitas said he understands the plane departed from the General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster at 1:19 p.m. and was headed to the Camarillo Airport before the crash. “We believe it’s an aircraft based at the Camarillo Airport,” he said.
Initial callers had reported that a hillside was on fire along with a plane. Firefighters subsequently arrived and reported a plane into a structure with smoke showing, radio traffic indicated.
Simi Valley Police Department Sgt. Chris Johnson said officers found the small plane in the backyard of a residence.
The single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft crashed into two houses, according to Andrew Dowd, spokesman for the county fire department. Both are two-story single family homes.
Residents were inside both of the homes at the time and were evacuated. No one on the ground was injured, Dowd said. About 40 firefighters responded.
