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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 7 augusT 2018

5 killed after plane nosedived in

Southern California parking lot

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The plane took off from pled and broken apart
Witnesses watched in hor- Buchanan Field Airport in and the car damaged.
ror as a small plane banked Concord, California, ac- Several roads were closed
low in sunny skies over a cording to a flight tracker surrounding the shopping
Southern California shop- service. center and the busy South
ping center and then sud- The pilot declared an Coast Plaza mall across the
denly nosedived, crashing emergency but didn't state street.
into a parking lot and killing the nature of his problem The plane is registered to a
all five people on board. before crashing about a San Francisco-based real An investigator surveys the wreckage of a twin-engine aircraft
Ella Pham and her boy- mile (1.6 kilometers) from estate consulting compa- that crashed on Sunday near the South Coast Plaza shopping
friend were walking across John Wayne Airport, Na- ny, Category III, accord- center Monday, Aug. 6, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif.
the lot Sunday when they tional Transportation Safety ing to an FAA database. A Associated Press
saw the twin-engine Cess- Board investigator Albert phone call to the company
na plummet. Nixon said Monday. Nixon was not immediately re- ticated cockpit avionics this metaphor and work to
"We looked up to see the didn't know how much turned. working together to safely bring Category lll precision
plane falling nose first," time elapsed between the "Category III is an aero- land an aircraft in zero vis- approach to our clients to
Pham, 20, told the Los An- distress call and the crash. nautical term which refers ibility conditions," says a deliver better results for all
geles Times . "It was so The plane was heading to a combination of highly statement on the com- aspects of complex real es-
heartbreaking just seeing to the airport southeast of trained pilots and sophis- pany's website. "We value tate value extrications."q
the plane crumbled into Los Angeles when it came
pieces." down in the lot of a Staples
The pilot of the Cessna 414 store and a CVS pharmacy,
and all four passengers Orange County Fire Author-
were killed, but nobody on ity Captain Steve Concialdi
the ground was hurt, au- said. There was no fire, he
thorities said. said.
Three of the victims were Four unoccupied parked
co-workers at Pacific Union cars were struck in the
International, a San Fran- crash, with one suffering
cisco Bay Area real estate major damage, Fire Capt.
firm, and the two others Tony Bommarito said.
were their family members, Jesse Perez was eating
the company said. lunch with a friend at Buffa-
Nasim Ghanadan, 29, Flo- lo Wild Wings, which shares
ria Hakimi, 62, and Lara the parking lot, when he
Shepherd, 42, were real es- heard the crash.
tate agents based out of "It sounded like a truck hit
an office in Danville, Cali- the building," he told the
fornia. Hakimi's son Navid Orange County Register .
Hakimi, 32, and Shepherd's Customers ran from the res-
husband, Scott Shepherd, taurant into the lot and saw
the plane's 53-year-old pi- the wreckage of the white
lot, were also killed. Cessna with green and
"Our entire Pacific Union blue trim.
family is mourning the loss "Bodies were hanging from
of our colleagues, family out the side of the plane,"
and friends," CEO Mark A. said Perez, adding that
McLaughlin said in a state- emergency workers were
ment. "Life is precious and there within minutes. "I
we are focused on com- couldn't believe what was
forting the loved ones af- happening."
fected by this devastating Photos from the scene
event." showed the plane crum-