Four people, three horses dead after plane crash

A single-engine airplane crashed this Thursday into a fog-shrouded corral near Agua Dulce, killing at least four people and three horses as the craft exploded in flames.

The four-seater Cirrus SR22, registered to an unidentified Calabasas company, took off about noon from Van Nuys Airport, officials said. It was bound for Parker, Ariz., but crashed about a mile west of Agua Dulce Airport.

Two adults aboard the airplane were confirmed dead, although investigators could not be sure if there were others because of the condition of the wreckage.

“It was a very bad accident,” said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Robbie Royster. “There's not much left. Unfortunately, due to the impact and ensuing fire, we're unsure of how many people were in the craft.”

It was a grim sight for neighbors who rushed to the scene after hearing the explosion. Some grabbed garden hoses to douse flames and one used a shotgun to destroy two horses that had been badly burned.

“It was kind of graphic,” said Scott Strickland of Los Angeles, who got a glimpse of the victims as he tried to pull the wreckage of the plane off the roof covering the corral. “I hope they kind of went quick without any pain.”

Deputies and Los Angeles County firefighters responded to the crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate its cause.

The aircraft “came down at a very, very, intensely steep angle,” said county Fire Capt. Bob Goldman said, burying the engine in three feet of mud.

“It sounded like a plane that was in serious trouble,” said Dallas Hodge, a next-door neighbor who called 911 after hearing a “boom.” “It whined up really high, like a fighter plane in a nose dive.”

Hodge estimated that the plane passed about 50 feet behind his house, shaking the entire building before it crashed about 30 feet from his neighbor's house.

“It scared the gajeebies out of me,” Hodge said. “The fact that the guy didn't hit any of the housing structures, that's what amazes me.

“The guy navigated it incredibly well to put it where he did, if it was intentional. He deserves a medal.”