Suspected Loss of Power Reported by Witnesses

A single engine Thorp T-18 homebuilt crashed into a house in Covington, WA, 20 miles Southeast of Seattle on Friday afternoon.

The only occupant, Roger Thompson, 69, a retired Boeing training pilot, was killed in the crash.

The plane just had taken off from Crest Airpark and was trying to head north when it hit the house, said Kyle Ohashi, a Kent Fire Department spokesman to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"It sounded like the guy lost his engine shortly after takeoff," said Jerry Sanders, an employee at Crest Airpark, to the Seattle Times. "It happened maybe 100 or 200 feet up in the air. The next thing I saw when I went outside was smoke coming off the hill."

The crash was reported at 1650 local time and firefighters from King County were called to the house on the 30400 block of 180th Avenue SW. 

Homeowner Rosemary Devino, 81, was in her home watching TV at the time of the impact.  She was not injured.

The aircraft (file photo of type shown below) impacted the home's garage roof and destroyed one wall before coming to rest in the front yard.  Firefighters contained a post-crash fire before they were able to spread to the house.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, said Mike Fergus, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

FMI: www.faa.gov