Small Plane Hits Car, Van in Freeway Landing
A small plane crash-landed on top of a car traveling south on the Santa Ana Freeway on Saturday, causing a major traffic jam that lasted for several hours.
No one was seriously injured in the 5:02 p.m. accident, which also involved a third vehicle. The plane, a Cessna 210, developed engine trouble about five minutes after taking off from Fullerton Airport, said Ron Frank, an FAA aviation safety inspector.
The plane landed on top of a 1989 Ford Probe, smashing in the car’s roof and shattering its windows. The plane then struck the back of a 1989 Chevrolet van, officials said.
“The freeway was the closest thing I could make and hopefully not kill anybody,” the shaken pilot, Jim Beebe, said shortly after the accident. Beebe, 25, an airplane mechanic, said he had taken the plane out on a maintenance flight.
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