UNITED STATES: Plane crashes into California house, kills five

A small plane crashed into a home in California on Sunday, killing the pilot and four others, US officials say. The twin-engine plane came apart and caught fire mid-flight, witnesses told local media, before crashing in Yorba Linda, a suburb of Los Angeles. The flight went awry just minutes after taking off from a local […]

A small plane crashed into a home in California on Sunday, killing the pilot and four others, US officials say.

The twin-engine plane came apart and caught fire mid-flight, witnesses told local media, before crashing in Yorba Linda, a suburb of Los Angeles.

The flight went awry just minutes after taking off from a local airport, some 20 miles (32km) south-east of the city.

The victims have not yet been named. Fire officials say two people were treated in hospital for burns.

Local residents described a shrill whistling sound before an explosion set the two-storey home on fire at 13:45 (21:45 GMT) on Sunday.

The pilot was the Cessna 414A’s only occupant, and a source told the Los Angeles Times the man had flown frequently out of the Fullerton Municipal Airport.