5 die, 2 hospitalized when plane parts hit Orange County house

Five people died and two others were injured after a small plane apparently came apart, raining debris across a Yorba Linda neighborhood and igniting a house fire before landing in a backyard.

Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Cory Martino said at a news conference last night the male pilot, who was the only person in the twin-engine plane, and four people in the house that caught fire died yesterday. He says the deceased occupants of the home were two males and two females.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the Cessna 414A took off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport about a dozen miles west of the blaze. An aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board Eliott Simpson says a two-story house burst into flames after being struck by the main cabin and one engine of the plane, sending panicked neighbors into the streets. The second engine dislodged and fell onto the street, creating a large hole in the asphalt. Resident John Wolbart who lives a block away says "it was a boom. It sounded like something exploded. It shook our house." He said he ran to the burning house and saw a woman come out with singed hair.

The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.