PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal investigators spent Monday in Fairview trying to figure out what caused a small plane crash in a neighborhood over the weekend.
Three people died, including two people in the plane and one person who was inside a townhome. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said more information should be known Monday night or Tuesday.
The twin-engine Cessna took out power lines in Fairview on Saturday morning, and the power lines then started a brush fire, before the plane crashed into multiple townhomes.
Neighbors are still in shock and shaken from the events.
“It was a giant explosion of red and black smoke and I immediately called 9-1-1,” said Tia Ross, who witnessed the plane crash just a couple hundred feet from her back window.
At the time of the crash, Ross was inside. She described it as a fireball in the sky.
“I didn't know it was a plane, I just saw this big ball of fire and it kept going and I thought, 'Is that a meteor, what is that?'" she said after seeing the explosion.
The plane hit the power lines above her house and then crashed into some townhomes in a neighborhood across from hers.
“Some of... the power lines were severed and they were live and that's what caused the brush fire in the green space and many of us had to grab our stuff and leave," she said.
While she was on the phone with 9-1-1 the flames started inching closer to her home. Crews weren’t able to put the fire out at first because the down wires were still live.
Audio from the Troutdale Airport control tower indicates that the pilot was having issues not too long after taking off. The runways were cleared for an emergency landing but the pilot wasn’t able to make it back.
Curtis Smith, a neighbor, saw the plane just seconds before it crashed.
“We only saw it for a few seconds maybe only two seconds and it was at a sharp angle going down to hit the ground,” Smith said.
So far, the names of the people killed haven’t been released.