2 killed when jet crashes in US neighborhood
South Bend police and fire officials examine a home where a a plane crash occurred near the South Bend Regional Airport Sunday, March 17, 2013 in South Bend, Ind. The private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed in the northern Indiana neighborhood, resulting in injuries and striking three homes, authorities and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed Sunday in an Indiana neighborhood, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane, authorities said.
The crash injured two other people aboard the Beechcraft Premier I twin-jet and one person on the ground, South Bend Assistant Fire Chief John Corthier said late Sunday. Corthier said officials believe everyone connected with the damaged homes had been accounted for and there were no known missing people.
The jet had left Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Riverside Airport and crashed late Sunday afternoon near South Bend Regional Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma City said.
South Bend Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Maggie Scroope said three people injured in the crashed were being treated there; one was in serious condition and two were in fair condition.
The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Montana. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.
A woman identifying herself as Caves’ wife answered the phone at their home Sunday and said, “I think he’s dead,” before hanging up.
Although authorities believe everyone was accounted for, Corthier said firefighters still want to search a heavily damaged home.
“I believe they said they’re going to have to tear down a portion of the house to make it stable. That probably won’t happen until (Monday),” he said.
Jet fuel inside another house posed a hazard, Corthier said.
“The leaking has stopped, but there is fuel in the basement. That is one of our major concerns, the fuel,” Corthier said.
An engine company was en route to the airport when its members witnessed the crash, Corthier said.
Part of the neighborhood southwest of the airport was evacuated after the crash, and Corthier said it was possible some residents would return to their homes Sunday night.
Electricity was cut off to part of the neighborhood.
Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing about 4:15 p.m., went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne.
“There was an indication of a mechanical problem,” Herwig said.
Stan Klaybor, who lives across the street from the crash scene, said the jet clipped the top of one house, heavily damaged a second, and finally came to rest against a third. Neighbors did not know if a woman living in the most heavily damaged house was home at the time, and a young boy in the third house did not appear to be seriously injured, Klaybor said.
“Her little boy was in the kitchen and he got nicked here,” Klaybor said, pointing to his forehead.
His wife, Mary Jane, regularly watches planes approach the airport.
“I was looking out my picture window. The plane’s coming, and I go, ‘Wait a minute,’ and then, boom,” she said.
“This one was coming straight at my house. I went, ‘Huh?’ and then there was a big crash, and all the insulation went flying,” she said.
