SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say five people on board a small plane were killed but nobody on the ground was hurt when the Cessna crashed in a Southern California parking lot.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac says the twin-engine plane declared an emergency Sunday before crashing about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport.
Orange County Fire Authority Captain Steve Concialdi says the Cessna was heading to the airport when it came down and struck an empty parked car in the lot of a Staples store. He says there was no fire and nobody on the ground was hurt.
Photos from the scene show the plane upright but on its belly. Several streets surrounding a nearby shopping center and the South Coast Plaza mall are closed.
The plane was registered to a San Francisco company and had flown from Concord, according to FAA records.
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