Plane Lands on Street, Clips 2 School Buses

In a near-catastrophe, a crippled airplane careened down a San Fernando Valley street Wednesday afternoon, clipping the front ends of two school buses carrying nearly 50 children but causing only two injuries.

“The potential for tragedy was tremendous,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Joseph Curreri. “Only by the grace of God did more than 50 individuals escape serious injury or death.”

Both buses were damaged, and the plane’s wingtip fuel tanks were sheared off. One 6-year-old student and one bus driver suffered minor injuries and were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center for treatment and released. The remaining students were taken to nearby schools to be picked up.

The pilot of the 30-year-old, twin-engine Cessna 402A was heading to Van Nuys Airport from Laughlin, Nev., about 2:45 p.m. when he reported to the airport control tower from above Newhall that he had lost power to one engine, then the other. Moments later, the plane swooped onto Hayvenhurst Avenue.

It hurtled south for about 500 yards at high speed before clipping the two Los Angeles Unified School District buses, which were heading in opposite directions.

A bus from Parthenia Street Elementary School was carrying 42 students, ranging in age from 6 to 10, while the other was carrying four special education students from Lassen Elementary, authorities said.

The injured student was in the Parthenia bus and was identified as Pricilla Garcia. She suffered a bump on the forehead and a bruised arm.

The injured driver, from the same bus, was identified as Corliss Thompson, an employee of Laidlaw Inc., which provides contract bus service to the district. Laidlaw officials said she suffered neck and back injuries.

Thompson’s mother said at the hospital that her daughter, 33, “was scared to death.”

“She thought the plane was going to tear the bus in half,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “It’s a miracle from God that she’s alive and nobody was killed.”

Several Parthenia students recalled a loud thud that jerked them around. The bus driver slammed on her brakes and students began screaming.

“It went down, down, down,” said Jaime Pacheco, 8. “It was bad. I got scared. My friend wanted to cry.”

Michael Ambrose, 43, was working in his garage on Hayvenhurst when he saw the battered plane come to a halt.

The pilot “was upset, he was visibly upset, you could tell,” Ambrose said. “He was sitting in the plane with his head in his hands, saying ‘Get away from me, I don’t want to talk to you right now.’ ”

The pilot, who was alone, was immediately quizzed by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. His name was not released, but authorities said he works for Sunshine Airlines Inc., a Van Nuys charter firm.

Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Steve Ruda said the pilot was traumatized but not injured.

“He’s emotionally upset, considering what could have happened,” Ruda said.

Authorities praised the bus drivers for being aware of the plane and seeking to avoid it, and for the pilot’s maneuvering to prevent a major accident.

“He just slid right between them,” Ruda said. “If he would have moved a few inches either way, it would have been a much different story.”

Sunshine Airlines representatives could not be reached for comment. According to its Web site, Sunshine Airlines maintains 12 Cessna 402s and charters flights for tour groups and movie studio productions, among others.

The plane’s registered owner is Sussex Aviation of Van Nuys. A spokesman said the company had leased the plane to Sunshine.

Although the cause of the plane’s problems remained unclear, authorities said it did not appear to have run out of fuel. Gas remained inside the plane’s main fuel tank, as well as the wingtip tanks.

Milad Herfeh, a pilot and employee of Sussex Aviation, said the engine quit about a mile from the airport. It was not clear if it was a fuel pump malfunction or another problem, he said.

The incident created gridlock on nearby streets all afternoon, indirectly leading to an accident at a Metrolink rail crossing.

A driver, Luis Sagastume, said he became frustrated with the traffic tie-up on Balboa Boulevard near Roscoe Boulevard.

He tried to detour over the Metrolink tracks just north of Roscoe when the crossing gates closed behind him, he said, stranding his car on the tracks.

A sheriff’s deputy yelled at him to get out of the car, and Sagastume escaped seconds before the train smashed into his car.

“I’m glad I’m still alive. I feel born again,” Sagastume said as he held his car stereo, cassettes and papers. “I don’t care about the car.”

LAPD Officer Garry Kingsland said: “This is a miracle. There have been two miracles here tonight.”

Times staff writers Kristina Sauerwein Agnes Diggs, Art Marroquin, Jeffrey Gettleman, Karen Robinson-Jacobs and Roberto J. Manzano contributed to this story.

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Skirting Disaster

After his Cessna 402A lost power on approach to Van Nuys Airport, the pilot touched down on Hayvenhurst Avenue and used it as a runway. The plane hurtled south on the street before clipping two school buses approaching the intersection from opposite directions. One bus driver and one student suffered minor injuries.