A small plane crash in Simi Valley, California has left the community reeling, with two people and their dog losing their lives. The accident, which went down on a Saturday afternoon, also damaged several homes—but thankfully, no one on the ground was hurt. This event raises ongoing worries about aviation safety (especially when flights come close to populated neighborhoods).
Details of the incident
The mishap happened around 2:10 p.m. local time in a residential part of Simi Valley, right on the 200 block of High Meadow Street in the Wood Ranch area. The aircraft—a four-seat, single-engine Vans RV-10—was headed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster to Camarillo Airport when it met its unfortunate end roughly 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
The plane smashed into the yard and dining room of Arman and Armineh Hovakemian’s home. Arman said he heard a loud noise and caught a whiff of gas just moments before the fuselage landed where he’d been gardening. The crash sparked a fire that quickly spread through part of their house, sending big clouds of smoke into the sky. The home of neighbors P.J. Van Kralingen and his wife Iris wasn’t spared either—windows in their family room (a room usually used by Iris’s parents) were shattered.
Emergency response and investigation
About 40 firefighters from the Ventura County Fire Department rushed to the scene to get the fire under control and make sure everyone was safe. Witnesses snapped photos and took videos showing thick smoke rising over the houses while firetrucks filled the street.
Initially, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mentioned only one person was on board, but officials later confirmed that there were two fatalities and one dog that didn’t make it. Everyone aboard the plane perished, leaving no survivors.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have kicked off an investigation to figure out what went wrong. (An NTSB investigator is already on site, gathering evidence before the wreckage is moved for more in-depth analysis.)
