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The two occupants, a man and woman, both in their late 50’s to early 60’s, of the Cessna 310 that crashed into the 405 freeway on Friday have been reported to be in stable condition.
The names of both the pilot and passenger have still not been disclosed, but it has been revealed that the woman was the pilot’s fiancee.
More details as they become available.
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On Friday morning, June 30, 2017, a small twin engine dispatched from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, careened into a divider on a section of the northbound lanes on the 405 Freeway in Santa Ana, just north of MacArthur Boulevard, and ignited into a fireball.
As of now the condition of the pilot and passenger, a man and a woman, both in their late 50’s to early 60’s, has not been released along with the names of said occupants. According to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz, the two were saved from the flaming wreck by an off- duty firefighter from Avalon. They were both immediately raced to the Orange County Global Medical Center, the closest trauma center to the airport.
The pilot was experiencing some sort of catastrophic failure shortly after taking off from John Wayne Airport and was attempting to return to the runway in an emergency landing. Controllers in the airport’s control tower received distressed calls from the pilot of a Cessna 310, with the pilot saying that he had lost power in the right engine of his plane.
(Photo by OnScene)
According to a recording from ATClive.net, a website that streams and archives air traffic control audio, the dialogue indicates that the control tower had cleared the pilot to land but that “[his] gear appear[ed] to be up.” The pilot, in a frenzied state, replied saying, “Yeah, I know. We’re still trying to get a little altitude. I lost my right engine.”
With the plane narrowly missing structures in the area it had collided with the freeway literally seconds after the dialogue.
There have been no reports of injuries including motorists on the freeway and by 10:15 AM, the traffic flow on the 405 had returned to normal.
