Plane hits California warehouse: 2 dead, 20 injured

STORY: :: Authorities report two dead, 20 injured as plane

crashes into a warehouse in Southern California

:: January 3, 2025

:: Michael Meacham, Deputy Chief, City of Fullerton

“The airplane departed from runway two four at Fullerton about 2 p.m. this afternoon, climbed straight ahead to about 900 feet. And a short time later, the pilot called for an immediate return to the airport. The tower controller then cleared the pilot to land on any runway. The airplane then appeared to make a 180 degree left turn and flew the left downwind for runway two four and then ultimately crashed about 1,000 feet short of runway two four, struck a furniture building and immediately caught fire. And so far, we have two confirmed fatalities, but we don’t have any any names or IDs.”

”We’ll obviously be looking at the wreckage tomorrow on scene within the factory, documenting as much as we possibly can, and we’ll be walking around trying to get video camera footage, talking to witnesses. We’ll be extracting the electronic data that’s on board and then from there will remove it. And we’ll do a far more forensic investigator in a remote facility.”

The aircraft, a single-engine Van’s RV-10, hit the warehouse at 2:15 pm local time (10:15 pm GMT), causing a fire and significant damage to the building. Elliot Simpson, an accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), provided details about the incident during a press briefing.

“The airplane involved was a kit built Van’s Aircraft RV-10, registration number N8757R, constructed in 2011. It’s a four-seat single-engine aluminum airplane, based out of Fullerton Airport,” Simpson explained. “The airplane departed from runway two four at Fullerton about 2 pm, climbed to about 900 feet, and a short time later, the pilot called for an immediate return to the airport.”

The airplane subsequently made a 180-degree left turn, flew the left downwind for runway two four, and crashed about 1,000 feet short of the runway, striking a furniture building and immediately catching fire. “We have two confirmed fatalities, but we don’t have any names or IDs. The coroner will be able to provide that at some point,” Simpson added.