3 Plane Crash Victims Still in Critical Condition : Accidents: The group of six was Las Vegas-bound. A flying-service owner says heat may have made takeoff difficult.

The pilot and two passengers aboard a single-engine plane that crashed and burst into flames at Van Nuys Airport remained hospitalized in critical condition Saturday at the Sherman Oaks Burn Center.

Two other passengers remained in the hospital with less serious injuries. A fifth passenger was recovering at home.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials said the six-seat Piper Cherokee Lance PA-32 skidded off the runway and crashed through a chain-link fence about 6:15 p.m. Friday while attempting to take off.

The six aboard, most of whom were co-workers at a Los Angeles bank, were bound for Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding, relatives said. They managed to scramble out of the plane moments before it exploded in flames, witnesses said.

The most seriously injured, Terry Alvarado, 26, of Pasadena, had third-degree burns on 56% of her body, said hospital spokeswoman Johna Rogovin. Doctors performed emergency surgery on Alvarado twice Friday night, a spokesman said.

Gregory Kane, 20, of Woodland Hills, the pilot, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 40% of his body, while Tracey Morse, 31, of Westlake Village had third-degree burns on 35% of her body, including her arms, legs and face, Rogovin said.

A Canyon Country couple, George Hill, 36, and his wife, Dianna, 34, were in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said.

The fifth passenger, James Boyd, 33, of Downey, was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released. He was recuperating at home Saturday.

“I was the fortunate one--the lucky one,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m home now, but the rest are in the hospital.”

He said that when the fire started “things were real fuzzy. I had trouble getting my buckle undone. . . . Before I knew it, there was fire and we were struggling to get out.”

George Hill’s mother, Phyllis Sears, said her son and his wife had intended to drive to Las Vegas for the wedding but accepted an offer to fly at the last minute. She said that she had visited her son and daughter-in-law and “they’re going to be fine.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Robert Alexander, owner of San-Val Flying Service, the company that rented the plane, speculated that the heat may have made it more difficult for the plane to take off.

An employee of San-Val, who identified himself only as Tony, said that Kane, who holds a commercial pilot’s license, had been flying for about a year. “He had way more experience than our requirements. He had well over 600 hours” in the air, he said.