2 Dead, 2 Injured When Plane Parts Hit California House

Two people died and two others were injured after a small plane apparently came apart, dropping parts that scattered across a Southern California neighbourhood and ignited a house fire before landing in a backyard, witnesses and authorities said on Sunday.

The crash shook the Yorba Linda neighbourhood about 2 pm after the twin-engine Cessna 414A took off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport about a dozen miles west of the blaze, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.

The pilot was the only person in the twin-engine plane, though authorities have not determined who among the dead and injured were on board or on the ground.

A two-story house burst into flames after being struck by a plane part, sending panicked neighbours into the streets.

“It was a boom. It sounded like something exploded. It shook our house,” said John Wolbart, who lives a block away.