Fifteen people were injured Thursday when a small plane collided with the roof of a commercial building in Southern California near the Fullerton Municipal Airport.
Police received a report of the crash in the Orange County city of Fullerton at 2:09 p.m. PST, said Kristy Wells, a Fullerton police spokesperson.
Police and firefighters responded to the scene and battled the fire while evacuating surrounding businesses, Wells said.
Police said the plane was a home-built plane Van’s aircraft RV-10 with seating for four people.
It appeared the pilot was attempting to return to the airport after takeoff, police said, although it was not clear how many people were aboard the plane.
A thick plume of black smoke could be seen from miles away.
Video footage from KABC shows white smoke coming from the top of a large building.
Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion, resulting in a major emergency response at Michael Nicholas Design Factory, a home goods store.
“People are just shocked by the situation,” Mark Anderson said NBC4. “It was just a big bang, and then one of the people went outside and said, ‘Oh my God, the building is on fire.'”
The plane crashed near Fullerton Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in Orange County, about 6 miles from Disneyland. It has one runway and one heliport.
Metrolink, a regional rail line, is nearby and flanks a residential area and commercial warehouses.
Fullerton is a city of about 140,000 residents, about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Eleven people were injured Thursday when a small plane collided with the roof of a commercial building in Southern California near the Fullerton Municipal Airport.
Eleven people were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed into the roof of a commercial building in Southern California, police said. This photo was taken from nearby Fullerton Airport
Police and fire brigades arrived on scene and fought the fire while surrounding businesses were evacuated
A plume of thick black smoke rose into the air above the scene and was visible for miles