BANNING: Two hospitalized after plane crashes alongside I-10

BANNING — A plane that crashed in Banning sent both occupants from the plane to the hospital, June 2. The plane went down near John and Hargrave Streets in Banning, alongside Interstate 10, according to fire officials.

According to witnesses, the plane’s wing appeared to have clipped several trees as the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing. The wrecked plane came to rest mere feet from the eastbound lanes of the busy freeway, near the eastbound Hargrave Street on ramp..

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Emergency first responders rushed to the scene of the crash about 11:47 a.m., after multiple motorists traveling on the 10 Freeway called 911 to report the downed aircraft.

Eighteen firefighters from four engine companies with assistance from Morongo Fire Department responded to the air emergency, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Public Information Specialist Tawny Cabral. They were assisted by the department’s Hazardous Materials Team and Hazardous Materials Support Unit.

“The first arriving Battalion Chief advised one small plane down near Hargrave Street,” Cabral explained. “The two occupants on the plane suffered moderate injuries.”

Firefighter/paramedics treated both victims at the scene before American Medical Response medics transported both by ground ambulances to an area hospital. Officials did not specify the nature or extent of the victims’ injuries.

During their investigation, California Highway Patrol officials called for the temporary closure of the eastbound 10 Freeway on-ramp at Hargrave Street.

Cabral reported that FAA and NTSB representatives arrived at the scene of the crash shortly before 2:30 p.m., and they had assumed the investigation.

According to FAA representative Allen Kenitzer, the downed plane was a single-engine Cessna 150.

The plane had reportedly taken off from Palm Springs and was heading to the Banning Municipal Airport when it suffered an unspecified emergency, CHP Lt. Richard Mendez said during an interview with Banning-Beaumont Patch.

Several recent local area plane crashes have citizens

living near airports concerned

Yesterday’s plane crash happened just nine days after a plane suffered a ‘hard-landing’ and smashed into a fuel tanker while attempting to land at the Perris Valley Airport.

The May 24 crash involved a 1976 de Havilland “Twin Otter” DHC-6. The plane was used to ferry skydivers over a parachute landing zone at the airport.

The impact with the tanker ripped one of the airplane’s wings off and sent the plane careening hundreds of feet, spinning it 180 degrees before it came to rest a mere 100 yards from a large building where people had been working.

After the crash, the plane, which was left heavily damaged, was missing most of its right-wing and had sustained other substantial damage; including to the landing gear, nose, tail section and left-wing.

Miguel Shannon/Epicenter News video

Banning-Beaumont Patch video

 

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Trevor Montgomery runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News and Anza Valley Outlook and also writes for Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg and breaking his back in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.