Plane Crash Kills 3, Disrupts Power

A dip in power voltage Tuesday afternoon knocked out hundreds of Los Angeles traffic lights and disrupted service to thousands of Southern California homes after a small plane crashed into power lines in the desert, killing three people and igniting a brush fire.

The power dip, which appeared to have no connection to the heat wave, caused lights and appliances to flicker in homes and offices across Los Angeles but did not create full-blown power outages in the city, according to the Department of Water and Power.

However, outside Los Angeles, in areas served by Southern California Edison, as many as 12,000 customers were experiencing problems with power ranging from dimmed lights to full outages late into the afternoon, an Edison spokesman said.

The so-called voltage dip occurred at 1:50 p.m. when a small plane hit two 500,000-volt power lines belonging to Edison in Hesperia in the southern Mojave Desert, officials said. Three people aboard the single-engine Piper Arrow were killed when it crashed. The victims were not immediately identified.

The wires were not downed, but the utility company cut power to the lines and was still attempting to inspect them for debris late Tuesday afternoon before restoring the flow of power, said Edison spokesman Steven Conroy.

In Los Angeles, a DWP spokeswoman said the effect was generally momentary. “Only those customers with voltage-sensitive equipment like computers or other electronic equipment may have experienced interruptions,” said the DWP’s Janet Merlo.

“We are advising these customers, if they are still experiencing problems, to manually reset their systems.”

Voltage sensitivity is why DWP customers in Los Angeles--once they ran the gantlet of uselessly blinking traffic lights--may have come home to find their VCRs blinking 12:00. A dip in the power means that VCRs, like traffic lights, go off and then come back on. Both need to be reset.

Edison customers experienced “sporadic and widespread” problems, Conroy said. “Customers in parts of Ventura County, L.A. County, San Bernardino County and Riverside have had service interruptions,” he said.

The two lines were carrying 3,500 megawatts of power. A single megawatt can power from 500 to 1,000 homes.

Edison officials said they quickly rerouted power to customers through other lines. Dimmed light or lowered power in houses, officials said, was due to diminished voltage while the company repaired the lines, and was not a result of the power company deliberately lessening voltage (a brownout).

“This had nothing to do with the temperature levels,” said Conroy, referring to Tuesday’s scorching heat. “This was not a matter of too much power usage. Prior to this incident, we were meeting all customer demands.”