Small Plane Crashes in Fireball Next to Strip Mall, Killing 3

A small plane crashed in a ball of fire near a Hawthorne strip mall moments after takeoff Sunday, killing all three people aboard and causing a neighborhood-wide evacuation when damaged gas and electrical lines threatened to cause fires or explosions.

The single-engine Piper Malibu came down in a parking lot and then plowed through a power transformer, setting off a series of explosions that reduced the wreckage to ashes and shredded metal.

“The bodies were so badly burned we can’t tell whether they’re female or male,” Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Mike Brown said just after the accident.

But authorities later determined that the victims were a man and two teenage girls.

Their names were not immediately released.

No one on the ground was injured.

However, as many as 100 residents were forced to find overnight emergency shelter after the plane struck a metal power box between the parking lot and street. The impact generated a power surge that blew out underground transformers and cut electricity to about 4,700 homes.

When crews attempted to restore power, another surge touched off two more emergencies.

The electricity caused a fire on the roof of a small apartment building. The flames were quickly extinguished by Southern California Edison crews.

Also, the surge ruptured an underground gas line.

With gas leaking throughout the neighborhood--it was strong enough to smell hours after the accident--police and fire emergency crews said electricity would not be turned back on until all the leaks were sealed and the system declared safe.

“The whole area has officially been shut down,” said Hawthorne Police Lt. James McInerny. “Because of the other problems, the utilities are moving very cautiously. The potential is for additional explosions when they recharge the lines, so that won’t happen until it is absolutely safe.”

Fire crews worked into the night keeping a constant water spray on the areas where gas was leaking to dissipate the fumes and prevent an explosion.

Residents of the evacuated area were being urged to find overnight shelter elsewhere.

Exactly how many people were affected was uncertain. The crash was in an area densely populated by multifamily apartment units.

An hour after the crash, Fire Department blankets covered the three bodies next to the wreckage as authorities began their investigation.

The pilot, who had told the control tower he was going to Las Vegas, turned sharply left moments after takeoff, causing some to speculate that he had trouble and was trying to return to the airport.

He did not notify the tower of any problems, said McInerny.

Just a quarter-mile from the runway, the plane went into a rapid descent, barely missing an Albertson’s supermarket.

It slammed into a Taco Bell parking lot and skidded onto Birch Avenue in front of motorists and passersby.

“It started sputtering and it just nose-dived,” said Alan Lyle of Torrance. “It was such an intense explosion.”

“It felt like an earthquake,” said Jose Linares, a local resident whose two children had gone to the Taco Bell.

“I saw the black smoke come up and I went running down there.”

His children were unhurt, but saw the horrific scene close-up.

One couple said they noticed that the plane took off at a much lower altitude than other planes, then sputtered, banked to the left and spun into a nose-dive.

Yancy Hawkins, who was driving on El Segundo Boulevard, did not hear the aircraft descending but was jolted by the concussion. “Bam! It just exploded,” he said. “It went into a fireball.”

Hawkins said he got out of his car and ran toward the wreck to help the victims, but was stopped by a second explosion. As police told him to get out of the way, a third blast hit, forcing him to turn away, he said.

Some witnesses told police they saw somebody trying to get out of the plane before it crashed, but officials said that was unlikely.

County fire crews responded immediately after receiving numerous phone calls.

Officials said they managed to keep the plane’s fuel from spilling into a storm drain.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator arrived at the scene shortly after the crash.

Phil Frame, a spokesman for the NTSB, said the wreckage would be taken to an aircraft recovery firm in Compton for investigation. He said details about the crash would not be released until Tuesday.

The plane was a Piper PA46-310, commonly called a Malibu, with either four or six seats, according to the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration.

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Tragic Flight Path

The single-engine Piper Malibu took off from Hawthorne Airport Sunday and flew less than a quarter of a mile before making an unexpected sharp left turn, possibly headed back toward the airport. It smashed into a strip mall parking lot. All three people aboard were killed in the fiery crash.