CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / OCEANSIDE
A small plane crashed Saturday morning near the Oceanside Municipal Airport, east of Interstate 5 in San Diego County.
The 24-year-old pilot and an 18-year-old passenger were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries, officials said.
The plane, a Cessna 172 registered to an El Cajon flight school, clipped a power line on approach to the runway and crashed. The plane did not catch fire and there were no structures damaged or any injuries on the ground.
But the plane struck a valve to a sewage pipe, releasing 25,000 gallons of raw sewage onto the nearby street and the plane wreckage. Crews from the Oceanside Fire Department, Camp Pendleton and the county’s hazardous-material squad were able to remove the sewage, but 15 people had to be decontaminated at the site.
The plane’s flight plan showed it had taken off from Gillespie Field in El Cajon en route to Torrance. Officials said it apparently developed mechanical trouble and the pilot was attempting an emergency landing.
-- Tony Perry
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