2 Die as Plane Crashes into Buena Park Warehouse

A single-engine plane apparently running out of fuel crashed into a Buena Park warehouse Saturday, killing both men aboard, when the pilot tried to make an emergency landing at Fullerton Municipal Airport.

The Orange County coroner’s office identified the pilot as Douglas M. Dike of Riverside. The passenger’s name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The victims apparently died on impact. No one on the ground was injured.

Don Tully, a Buena Park fire battalion chief, said: “The information we have is that one fuel tank was empty and the other (tank) had a small amount of fuel in it. The fuel switch was on the empty tank.

Change in Tanks

“Assuming no other problems, if he had switched to the other tank he would have easily had the fuel to make it to the airport.”

The four-seat Cessna 210 was approaching the airport from the west just after noon when it crashed into the roof of the Lucky Food Centers warehouse, about a mile from the airport, authorities said.

Tully said a witness reported seeing the plane circling with a dead engine just before the crash. And the pilot reportedly told air traffic controllers at the Fullerton tower that he was experiencing engine trouble, Tully said.

The plane crashed into a non-food storage area at the warehouse at Knott Avenue and Caballero Boulevard, according to Jason Ivey, a store security guard.

Ivey said he walked into the warehouse during routine rounds and noticed something leaking from the roof. But he did not realize a plane had crashed, he said, adding that he had not heard the impact.

Flipped Upside Down

Authorities said the plane nosed onto the roof and then flipped upside down.

The cabin was completely destroyed. The rest of the aircraft remained intact, but was heavily damaged.

Authorities said weather apparently played no role in the crash. “It was overcast, but it was not raining and there was plenty of visibility,” Tully said.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said authorities were not certain of where the plane was from or where it was going. The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the county coroner’s office will investigate the accident, he said.