Crews remove plane from Compton homes

COMPTON The force of the plane crash was so violent that it sent Compton resident Regina Hosley flying through a wall of her house. Hosley spoke to Eyewitness News from her hospital bed in Long Beach.

Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch Leanne Suter's report.

Hosley said she considers herself very lucky after experiencing the whole thing from inside one of the homes that was hit.

"I didn't hear anything. It was really quiet 'cuz the birds were chirping, and we were just talking about how good of a day it was 'cuz the birds were really chirping, and the next thing I know, it's one big catastrophe," Hosley said.

Crews pulled the planes wreckage from the Compton homes Monday.

"Based on the deformation to the structure, the compromise to the cockpit and the attitude of the aircraft at risk, this generally would not be a survivable accident," said Wayne Pollock, NTSB.

The twin-engine Cessna 310 plane came down nose first just before 4 p.m. Saturday at 538 West Cypress Street, about a mile and a half from Compton Airport.

The 45-year-old and her boyfriend were in the kitchen when the plane crashed inside of her house.

"I wonder how he even got out because the plane was sitting in my kitchen where I was at. It was unbelievable," said Hosley.

Hosley and her boyfriend, as well as, the pilot and his passenger were all seriously injured.

Investigators say that the pilot was approaching the Compton Airport when he experienced a sudden loss of engine power causing the right wing of the plane to hit one of the homes.

"At that point the aircrafts wing severed and it actually catapulted over the second residents into the third residents," said Pollock.

Friends say that the experienced pilot and passenger are members of a local flying club. They say that the pair was returning from a trip to San Diego when they ran into trouble.

Despite the devastating damage and injuries everyone involved is expected to make a full recovery.

Neighbor Leo Wyatt heard the loud boom and rushed to pull the pilot and his passenger out of the plane, moments after the crash landing.

"I see the fumes dropping, but I was just within two seconds. I was just about to move, and I seen movement from the pilot. He looked at me dead in my eyes ... the look of please help me," Wyatt said. "And I said, 'Yeah ... please help me carry you out of here 'cuz this may blow up any minute,'" he said.

Several other neighbors jumped their fences to search for victims inside the house.

Hosley's sister, Tiffany Hosley, said she was in shock when she heard what happened. After surveying the damage to the house, she said the home can be fixed, but what was more important was that her sister was expected to make a full recovery.

"She's okay. She's going to live. That's the most important part. She has like some broken bones in her face and her arms and her hands, but she's going to be okay," she said.

After Regina Hosley saw the scene on the news, she said, "I can't believe it. It's like a nightmare."

Eyewitness News reporters Lisa Hernandez and Leanne Suter contributed to this report.

 

Click here for more headlines from ABC7 Eyewitness News

Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.