2 Die When Plane Explodes, Crashes Into Vacant Building

Two people were killed Friday in a private airplane that exploded after hitting an electrical transformer on takeoff from Whiteman Airpark in Pacoima and plunged into the roof of an abandoned bakery.

The plane, a single-engine Rockwell Commander based at Van Nuys Airport, had lifted off a runway shortly before 6 p.m. when it hit a lamppost about 300 feet away, then struck a transformer on a nearby power pole and burst into flames before plunging into the building on Osborne Street, said Cmdr. Tim McBride of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“I just heard a crash and then I saw a ball of fire,” said Jerry Salinas, 51, of Canyon Country, who was outside his brake repair shop next to the bakery when the plane smashed into the roof. “It exploded on its way down to the building.”

The pilot and a passenger were killed in the crash. The identities of the victims, both believed to have been men, were not immediately determined.

Friday’s hot weather may have been a factor, police said. Extremely hot air is less dense, reducing the amount of lift that an airplane’s wings generate.