A small corporate jet crashed into a residential area in South Bend, Ind., Sunday, killing two passengers and injuring three people. The aircraft was on its way to the South Bend Regional Airport.
The plane, which originated at an airport in Tulsa, Okla., was scheduled to land at the South Bend airport around 4 p.m., but it reportedly began experiencing electrical issues.
The pilot radioed the electrical issues as he neared the airport and attempted to land but failed. The crash reportedly occurred as he made a second landing attempt, local NBC station WNDU reported.
Three of the injured were admitted with non-life threatening injuries, according to a spokesperson for Memorial Hospital in South Bend. Almost 250 people were evacuated, a spokesperson for the South Bend Police Department told NBC News.
The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles.
A woman identifying herself as Caves' wife answered the phone at their home Sunday and said, "I think he's dead," before hanging up.
Although authorities believe everyone was accounted for, Corthier said firefighters still want to search a heavily damaged home.
"I believe they said they're going to have to tear down a portion of the house to make it stable. That probably won't happen until (Monday)," he said.
Jet fuel inside another house posed a hazard, Corthier said.
"The leaking has stopped, but there is fuel in the basement. That is one of our major concerns, the fuel," Corthier said.
An engine company was en route to the airport when its members witnessed the crash, Corthier said.
"Our arrival on the scene was immediate. Our working to get the occupants out started immediately. We were able to get some of the occupants out of the plane right away," Corthier said.
