Sunah Kim was waiting for her son at a week-long camp at the Tac City Airsoft training center in Fullerton Thursday afternoon when people came in crying saying they heard a loud noise and saw dark clouds of smoke nearby.
“They were shouting, 'holy s—,' there was an accident,” said camp referee Peter Roberts. I thought they were talking about something else, not what was happening around us.
Kim and an employee of the center ran to his car and drove around the corner to find the furniture storage area engulfed in flames. A small plane from Fullerton Airport had just crashed into a building.
Kim, who is a nurse who lives in Seal Beach, said she has worked in trauma groups and couldn't believe she was so close.
Kim said he got into a “chaotic incident” with crew members burned, parts of the plane and tools and furniture strewn about.
Two people on the plane were killed and 18 people on the ground were injured in the crash, authorities said.
A small plane crashed into the roof of a commercial building east of Fullerton Airport.
(OnScene.tv)
The names of those killed had not been officially released as of Friday evening, but in an Instagram post, the Huntington Beach High School football team identified them as junior football player Kelly Reid and his father, Pascal. Pascal Reid of Huntington Beach was the registered owner of the plane, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
“Yesterday, our football family lost in an unimaginable way. “Kelly Reid and her father Pascal were tragically lost in a plane crash,” said the document. “Kelly was an amazing girl … sincere and kind with such a love for life.”
The crash happened at a warehouse in the 2300 block of Raymer Avenue just after 2 p.m. Thursday. Authorities identified the plane as an experimental, single-engine RV-10.
Video from a security camera captured the moment the plane hit the roof of the Michael Nicholas Designs furniture store, bursting into flames and sending thick clouds of black smoke and bright orange flames into the sky.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the plane was about 900 feet after takeoff but the pilot called back to the control tower and asked if he could come back. The tower forced the pilot to land and the pilot made a 180-degree left turn, then flew down and crashed into a building, authorities said.
On Friday, an employee of a furniture store is waiting outside for a call from his boss. He wanted to find some medicine and personal belongings that he had left on his desk.
“They just told us to leave everything and we did it, now we won't be able to find you for who knows how long,” said the employee, who gave her name only as Katerina, fearing that she would take revenge. “Some people left their cars here because we were told that the investigators need everything that has not been touched.”
Rescuers tend to the injured after a small plane crashed into the roof of a warehouse in Fullerton.
(OnScene.tv)
Katerina was inside another part of the warehouse when the plane hit the building. He said he “heard a terrible noise” and saw light curtains separating his door from another burning fire.
“We started screaming and ran away,” he said.
Katerina and a bunch of workers left through the back door.
“We're in the middle of a furniture store,” he said. “I still can't believe what happened.”
Kim, a 16-year nurse from Cedars-Sinai, said she was impressed by how people came together in the face of adversity.
“At that time, when you're inside, you try to do anything to help,” Kim said. “Tac City employees showed courage by seeing what was happening and responding.”
He and the Tac City staff quickly tended to the wounds, while triaging the injured workers, prioritizing those with the most burns.
“We removed those who needed to see the scene of the fire immediately from others so that when the emergency services arrive, they know who to help first,” said Kim. “I had my little emergency kit in my car and I did everything I could.”
Kim said he continued to work as firefighters, paramedics and others arrived at the scene.
“I think they allowed us to continue helping because they appreciated the help.”
