Plane Crashes on Venice Street, Hits Car; All OK

A single-engine plane practicing touch-and-go landings at Santa Monica Airport today developed engine trouble and crashed onto a street in Venice, hitting power lines and a car, authorities said.

Neither the two people aboard the two-seat Cessna 150 Commuter nor the driver of the vehicle were seriously hurt, said Fire Department spokesman Greg Acevedo. Their identities were not immediately available.

The plane was practicing landings and takeoffs at the airport when the pilot reported power problems, said Elly Brekke, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot tried to land on the beach, she said, but went down at 10:40 a.m. in the 800 block of Rose Avenue in Venice, a short distance from the airport. The plane struck a traffic signal, a support cable for a telephone pole and power lines. Its nose gear also hit the windshield of the car, Acevedo said.

The driver of the vehicle, a woman, told firefighters glass may have sprayed into her eye but she was not treated by paramedics. Power to about 800 customers of the Department of Water was cut off by the crash.

“I came out of a check-cashing place and the plane was flying real low,” said Ken McFadden, a house painter. “I had a funny feeling it was going to hit a tension wire. So I dropped my shirt and started running toward it.

“When I got there, one of the neighbors came out of one of these houses . . . and he was already in (the plane), getting one person out.”