This past weekend, three people lost their lives and two were injured when to a small plane heading back to San Jose, CA from a weekend cheerleading competition at Disney’s California Adventure Park crashed into two homes and started a major fire in Riverside County. According to the authorities, five people were on the plane that had just taken off from Riverside Municipal Airport around 4:40 p.m., nearly an hour & an half later than scheduled, when it crashed and caused a disaster. The Cessna 310 – the name of the plane, built in 1974, was registered to Nouri Hijazi of San Jose, according to FAA records.

One of the victims, a woman, was thrown from the plane on impact but had only minor injuries, according to the fire department. Three witnesses told the nearby TV stations she crawled from the home asking for help. She had the ability to talk to firefighters about what had happened as she was taken to Riverside County Community Hospital. A second survivor had to undergo surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino. The authorities had found 3 bodies in the combined wreckage of the plane and the destroyed homes.

The two homes that were hit directly were completely destroyed, and there was minor damage to some neighboring houses, said Moore, adding that no one on the ground was harmed or killed. The plane was broken into hundreds of small pieces, its propeller blade was sitting on the roof of a nearby home, and the fire burning with aviation fuel was still ablaze for several hours after the crash. H.L. Reyes, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, contacted The Associated Press she felt the ground shake and saw plumes of black smoke. Many people in the area began to notice the birds when they just suddenly took off and then out of nowhere the plane crashes. Shannon Flores, a teacher at an elementary school in the area, says she saw the plane coming from the view of her classroom window.

In the sense of this plane crash, people who didn’t feel or receive any effect were very fortunate to be safe. Athena Kieu (10) says, “that is so scary; one of my parents friends was in a very similar situation and she almost lost her life, but she was lucky to get away.” In terms of disaster and destruction, it’s good to be thankful proper experience at this site wasn’t taken!