CORONA, Calif. (AP) – Two private planes flying about a mile from an airport collided Sunday, killing at least four people and raining debris down on car dealerships below, authorities said.
The small Cessnas collided at 3:35 p.m. near the small Corona Municipal airport and a freeway in Riverside County, about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles, FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
Three of the dead were from the planes and the fourth was in a car hit by debris on the ground, Kenitzer said.
Debris fell on car dealerships, and television pictures showed that the smashed fuselage of one of the planes landed atop a parked car.
“The smaller aircraft … just disintegrated into pieces, maybe fifty pieces coming down,” eyewitness Jeff Hardin told KABC-TV. “The other aircraft pretty much stayed intact and started spiraling down.”
“We’re going through the dealerships to make sure everyone’s accounted for and nobody’s injured,” Corona Police Sgt. Jerry Pawluczenko said.
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