At Least 2 Feared Dead After Plane Hits House

A single-engine plane that appeared to be performing an aerobatic stunt veered out of control and crashed into a home Sunday, apparently killing at least two people aboard and sparking a fire that gutted the house.

The crash about 11:20 a.m. left a gaping hole in the two-story house and caused a fire in an adjacent house, damaging its garage and attic, said Roseville Fire Marshall Dennis Mathisen. One body was visible in the wreckage.

Placer County Deputy Coroner T. Sinclair confirmed that two people were in the plane, but could not account for the whereabouts of a teenage boy who lived in the house. Neighbors said the boy’s family was out of town for the weekend, and it was unclear whether he was home at the time.

Sinclair said there was virtually no chance that the occupants of the plane could have survived the crash, but he was unable to confirm their deaths because the Federal Aviation Administration restricted access to the wreckage until today.

The plane, identified by the FAA as a 1996 Glasair II, appeared to be doing an aerobatic maneuver when it crashed, said Roseville police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther.

“The pilot appeared to be coming down low for some kind of maneuver that brought him to within 500 feet of the rooftops,” she said. “And then he appeared to lose control and crashed into one of the houses.”

Next-door neighbor Garrett Osgood, 12, whose family was out at the time, said the plane’s impact awakened him.

He escaped with his two dogs before parts of his house caught fire.

“I ran out of the house, and there was a whole bunch of debris falling from the sky. A piece fell right in front of me, and it was in flames,” he said. “My whole room’s melted. My pet snake’s probably dead.”