By Simon Ateba
A small plane crashed into a seaside house in heavy fog early Monday, killing two people aboard and three children inside the vacation home. A woman and two children in the home were also injured.
Gearhart city officials said pilot Jason Ketchson and a passenger, Frank Toohey were aboard the plane that crashed before 7 a.m., apparently hitting a tree during conditions described as foggy with low clouds.
When the plane crashed, six persons were in the four-bedroom rental home for a family reunion and vacation, City Administrator Dennis McNally said ”A vacant house next door was also damaged”.
The children killed were identified as Julia Reimann, 10, of Beaverton; and Hesam Farrar Masoudi, 12, and Grace Masoudi, 8, both from Denver. Ruth Jackson-Reimann, 47, and two children, Christopher Reimann, 13, and Sarah Reimann, 11, were flown to Portland for treatment at a burn centre, said Michael Griffiths, Executive Director of the regional emergency transport consortium Life Flight.
Jackson Reimann rescued one of the children and another climbed out from the window, two adults staying at the home were out for a walk when the plane crashed, officials said.
The owner of the house, Greg Marshall of Portland, told The Oregonian newspaper that the victims arrived Sunday for a planned two-week stay.
The plane, a four-seat Cessna, was owned by Aviation Adventures in Seaside. “The company had rented it to Ketchson”, McNally said.
McNally said the plane had just taken off from the airport and was apparently headed to Klamath Falls in southern Oregon. And an explosion was reported about 20 seconds after the crash.
“I heard the plane above and thought, ‘Gosh, it’s awfully low and awfully early, the explosion shook my house and was followed by two smaller explosions”, she said.
The cause of the crash has not been determined. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene.
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