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Small plane crashes into Calif. homes; at least three dead

Corinne Kennedy, The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun
and The Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. —  Three people were killed and two more were injured when a small plane crashed into two homes and started a large fire in Riverside Monday afternoon.

Smoke rises from a fire after a plane crashed in Riverside, Calif., Feb. 27, 2017.

Authorities said earlier that four people were dead but later reduced the death toll to three and said that all the victims were on the plane.

Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore said the plane was carrying five people, two adults and three teenagers.

The plane's passengers, a husband, wife and three teenagers, had come to Riverside from San Jose for a cheerleading competition at Disneyland, according to Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore.

Riverside Fire Department crews were called to the scene around 4:40 p.m. PT and discovered the small passenger plane had crashed directly into the front of two residences, which were destroyed in the ensuing blaze.

One survivor was located by firefighters and was transported to a nearby hospital. Moore said the survivor, a female teenager, was ejected from the plane as it split apart on impact. She had minor injuries. Moore said she was able to provide the crews with more information about the crash.

Three bodies were discovered, all from the plane.

Moore said firefighters pulled an unconscious passenger from one of the burning houses and that person was in critical condition and underwent surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino.

Two witnesses told TV stations that a woman crawled from one of the houses with her clothes on fire, saying she had been flying the plane.

The Cessna 310 aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Riverside Municipal Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane was headed for San Jose when it crashed about a half-mile northeast of the Riverside airport, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The plane came down into a residential neighborhood and collided with two homes, Riverside Police Lt. Charles Payne said. Video from news helicopters showed at least one of the homes was engulfed in flames and littered with debris from the small plane near the intersection of Central and Streeter avenues. The plane's propeller appeared to be left sitting on the roof of a nearby home.

Residents watch as smoke rises from a fire after a plane crashed in Riverside, Calif., Feb. 27, 2017.

Shannon Flores, a teacher at an elementary school about three blocks away, said she saw the plane out her classroom window shortly before 5 p.m. She said it was raining during the crash.

"As soon as we saw it fly over, we knew it wasn't a good thing," Flores told KABC-TV. "We watched it go down very quickly .... Before we knew it there was a loud crash and huge plumes of smoke."

H.L. Reyes, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, said she felt the ground shake and saw plumes of black smoke.

"I thought it was a possible earthquake, and we heard all the birds just suddenly react outside, too," Reyes said. "Every time an engine sputters, I'm afraid ... This was just like a nightmare coming true."

Residents of nearby homes were evacuated from the area and taken to a community center, Payne said.

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Corinne Kennedy on Twitter: @corinneskennedy