4 injured, cars damaged after plane crashes during drag race in California: See video
A small plane struck two vehicles and a trailer as it crashed during a racing event in California, injuring four people.
The single-engine Piper PA-32 with four people on board crashed near La Verne, around 11:40 a.m. Sunday, the Federal Aviation Authority said in an alert. The aircraft struck two vehicles and a trailer as it came down at the Pomona Dragstrip, around 30 miles east of Los Angeles, L.A. County Fire Department said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Sunday, as the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing finals were taking place.
Racing was temporarily put on hold as authorities handled the incident and resumed a little more than an hour later at 1 p.m. local time, according to NHRA updates.
Four patients, with two in critical conditions, all from the plane, were transported to a local hospital, LAFD told Paste BN over email Monday. There were no patients from the ground. An update on the passengers' conditions was not immediately available.
While FAA said that three vehicles were damaged in the incident, ABC7 reported the plane hit about five cars and three RVs.
An eyewitness Tristan Szalonek told ABC7 he was shocked "to see a plane just cut a whole truck right in half, from the roof to the door."
Video footage from the incident shows the plane crashing down close to the stands where attendees were seated. Several damaged vehicles could also be seen.
The aircraft had taken off from Apple Valley at 10:40 a.m. Sunday and was heading for Brackett Field Airport, located just west of the Fairplex track, when it came down, according to data available of FlightAware.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, and FAA said the agency will investigate.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.