Plane Crashes Into Residential Area, Narrowly Misses Homes

The sole occupant of a single-engine aircraft suffered fatal injuries when he crashed Friday afternoon in the Sacramento, CA suburb of El Dorado Hills, about 10 miles northeast of Sacramento Mather Airport (MHR).

Thomas P. Alexander, 60, of Wilton, CA was identified by his wife as the pilot of the plane, a Glastar Sportsman GS-2. The Federal Aviation Administration database indicates the aircraft was registered to Alexander.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Phil Chovanecas said the pilot issued a “mayday” call before the plane went down at 5:11 pm along Crown Drive, narrowly missing several homes and bursting into flames upon impact.

Witness Kirstin Comstock-Ervin told KXTV/News 10, "We were just relaxing and next thing we knew, we just heard like a popping, screaming sound from the back neighbors, but popping... and we could just feel the presence of something very low.

"There's literally three homes here that are close enough that it's just absolutely unreal that it didn't hit a house." Kirstin's husband Dirk added, "Our 2 year old daughter is in our lap as we're seeing this thing go down. It was crazy."

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Josh Cawthra told KCRA-58 the wreckage was removed Saturday and taken to a secure location for continued examination.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov