SOUTH BEND, Ind. A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed Sunday in a northern Indiana neighborhood, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane, authorities said.
The crash injured two other people aboard the Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet and one person on the ground, South Bend Assistant Fire Chief John Corthier said late Sunday. Corthier said officials believe everyone connected with the damaged homes had been accounted for and there were no known missing people.
The jet had left Tulsa, Okla.'s Riverside Airport and crashed late Sunday afternoon near South Bend Regional Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma City said.
South Bend Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Maggie Scroope said three people injured in the crashed were being treated there; one was in serious condition and two were in fair condition.
On approach, the pilot reported a problem with electrical power, reports CBS South Bend affiliate WSBT-TV, citing the FAA.
The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.
A woman identifying herself as Caves' wife answered the phone at their home Sunday and said, "I think he's dead," before hanging up.
Although authorities believe everyone was accounted for, Corthier said firefighters still want to search a heavily damaged home.
"I believe they said they're going to have to tear down a portion of the house to make it stable. That probably won't happen until (Monday)," he said.
Jet fuel inside another house posed a hazard, Corthier said.
"The leaking has stopped, but there is fuel in the basement. That is one of our major concerns, the fuel," Corthier said.
An engine company was en route to the airport when its members witnessed the crash, Corthier said.
"Our arrival on the scene was immediate. Our working to get the occupants out started immediately. We were able to get some of the occupants out of the plane right away," Corthier said.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator arrived on the scene Sunday night.
Part of the neighborhood southwest of the airport was evacuated after the crash, and some residents were allowed to return home Sunday night, reports WSBT.
Electricity was cut off to part of the neighborhood.
Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing about 4:15 p.m., went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne.
"There was an indication of a mechanical problem," Herwig said.
Patricia Kobalski lives in one of the homes that was it.
"I looked outside my back door and I saw part of a plane," she told WSBT. "I don't know how much of it there was in my house, but my roof was caved in and there was glass everywhere, the front of the house, windows busted out. I just grabbed my son and got him some clothes and we ran out."
"I'm still real shaken up because we could've been killed," she added.
Vickie Kline lives nearby.
Shetold WSBT, "First thing we heard was the bang crash, the explosion, then we got closer from the outside we could see the smoke and we went down and you could see where the back of the house was completely gone and you could smell the gas," Kline said. "real strong gas odor and that's when they were telling everybody to get back."
"At this point, I'm not worried about material things, I'm just glad my son and I made it out and we're alive," said Kobalski.
Stan Klaybor, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. Neighbors did not know if a woman living in the most heavily damaged house was home at the time, and a young boy in the third house did not appear to be seriously injured, Klaybor said.
"Her little boy was in the kitchen and he got nicked here," Klaybor said, pointing to his forehead.
His wife, Mary Jane, regularly watches planes approach the airport.
"I was looking out my picture window. The plane's coming, and I go, `Wait a minute,' and then, boom," she said.
"This one was coming straight at my house. I went, 'Huh?' and then there was a big crash, and all the insulation went flying," she said.
The crash injured two other people aboard the Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet and one person on the ground, South Bend Assistant Fire Chief John Corthier said late Sunday. Corthier said officials believe everyone connected with the damaged homes had been accounted for and there were no known missing people.
The jet had left Tulsa, Okla.'s Riverside Airport and crashed late Sunday afternoon near South Bend Regional Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma City said.
South Bend Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Maggie Scroope said three people injured in the crashed were being treated there; one was in serious condition and two were in fair condition.
On approach, the pilot reported a problem with electrical power, reports CBS South Bend affiliate WSBT-TV, citing the FAA.
The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.
A woman identifying herself as Caves' wife answered the phone at their home Sunday and said, "I think he's dead," before hanging up.
Although authorities believe everyone was accounted for, Corthier said firefighters still want to search a heavily damaged home.
"I believe they said they're going to have to tear down a portion of the house to make it stable. That probably won't happen until (Monday)," he said.
Jet fuel inside another house posed a hazard, Corthier said.
"The leaking has stopped, but there is fuel in the basement. That is one of our major concerns, the fuel," Corthier said.
An engine company was en route to the airport when its members witnessed the crash, Corthier said.
"Our arrival on the scene was immediate. Our working to get the occupants out started immediately. We were able to get some of the occupants out of the plane right away," Corthier said.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator arrived on the scene Sunday night.
Part of the neighborhood southwest of the airport was evacuated after the crash, and some residents were allowed to return home Sunday night, reports WSBT.
Electricity was cut off to part of the neighborhood.
Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing about 4:15 p.m., went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne.
"There was an indication of a mechanical problem," Herwig said.
Patricia Kobalski lives in one of the homes that was it.
"I looked outside my back door and I saw part of a plane," she told WSBT. "I don't know how much of it there was in my house, but my roof was caved in and there was glass everywhere, the front of the house, windows busted out. I just grabbed my son and got him some clothes and we ran out."
"I'm still real shaken up because we could've been killed," she added.
Vickie Kline lives nearby.
Shetold WSBT, "First thing we heard was the bang crash, the explosion, then we got closer from the outside we could see the smoke and we went down and you could see where the back of the house was completely gone and you could smell the gas," Kline said. "real strong gas odor and that's when they were telling everybody to get back."
"At this point, I'm not worried about material things, I'm just glad my son and I made it out and we're alive," said Kobalski.
Stan Klaybor, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. Neighbors did not know if a woman living in the most heavily damaged house was home at the time, and a young boy in the third house did not appear to be seriously injured, Klaybor said.
"Her little boy was in the kitchen and he got nicked here," Klaybor said, pointing to his forehead.
His wife, Mary Jane, regularly watches planes approach the airport.
"I was looking out my picture window. The plane's coming, and I go, `Wait a minute,' and then, boom," she said.
"This one was coming straight at my house. I went, 'Huh?' and then there was a big crash, and all the insulation went flying," she said.