1 Dead, 1 Injured After Plane Crashes At SoCal Plant Nursery

FALLBROOK, CA — One person died and another was injured in a small plane crash in Fallbrook Saturday afternoon, authorities said. This is the second small plane crash in as many days in Southern California.

The injured pilot was transported to a local trauma center in critical condition, according to the North County Fire Protection District. The passenger was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said. No one else was on the two-seat aircraft.

The single-engine, vintage military-style plane crashed around 1:30 p.m. in a plant nursery at 2575 Olive Hill Road, according to the North County Fire Protection District and Federal Aviation Administration. The nursery is less than a mile away from the county-owned Fallbrook Airpark.

James Booth, a retired airport police and fire officer, was at the airpark when the crash happened, he told Patch by phone on Saturday.

"It all looked okay," he said. "And then sputter, sputter..."

Booth was watching planes take off when he heard the engine apparently fail on the vintage aircraft, he said. The aircraft had just taken off and had barely made it past the runway.

There was no immediate word on the official cause of the crash, which also damaged some of the nursery's products.

An FAA spokesperson said authorities will investigate the incident.

"The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate," said Crystal Essiaw, a media relations spokesperson with the FAA. "The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and any updates."

When Booth realized the plane was going down, he and a nearby airport security guard jumped in a car and drove over to the scene. They picked up another responder along the way, and all three had to slide down an embankment to make it to the crash, Booth said. When they got there shortly later, the two people were trapped in the plane — which was leaking oil and fuel, Booth said. That immediately complicated their rescue mission because of the high fire risk.

Booth said he and the others pried one of the canopies off to rescue the pilot. They spent over 25 minutes trying to pry another canopy off to remove the passenger, who was still stuck in the plane. Despite their extensive efforts, the passenger died on the scene, stuck in the plane.

This is the second small plane crash in the region in two days; on Friday, a small plane crashed into the ocean in Huntington Beach. The pilot had to be pulled out of the water and the plane came onto the beach shortly after.

City News Service contributed to this report.