Hawthorne Evacuees Return to Homes

The last of the Hawthorne residents evacuated Sunday after a plane crash triggered power outages, fires and explosions in their neighborhood were allowed to return to their homes Monday afternoon, authorities said.

But a portion of Birch Avenue remained closed to traffic as crews continued repairs on underground electrical and gas lines damaged when a single-engine Piper Malibu crashed on the suburban street, killing the pilot and two passengers.

Meanwhile, a contractor hauled the wreckage of the plane to Compton Airport. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will begin their probe today to figure out why the plane crashed shortly after it took off from Hawthorne Municipal Airport.

Hawthorne police have not yet released the name of the pilot, described as a local businessman. They have also not identified two adult female passengers. The three were headed to Las Vegas, said Hawthorne Police Lt. John Beerling.

The plane struck a power transformer when it crashed at the edge of a shopping center parking lot, cutting off electrical power to about 4,600 customers.

When Southern California Edison attempted to reroute power, an electrical surge triggered the explosion of a transformer in an underground vault shared with gas lines, said Gil Alexander, an Edison spokesman.

Power was restored to all customers by Sunday evening.

But as many as 100 residents who had been evacuated were forced to seek emergency shelter until authorities fixed gas leaks and made sure the neighborhood was safe.

“It was a big mess,” Beerling said. “But power has been restored to everybody and all the folks were let back in their homes.”