Girl, 16, & dad killed after ‘home built’ plane smashed into warehouse in fireball inferno near Disneyland in California
A DAD and his 16-year-old daughter have tragically died after a “home-built” plane smashed into a packed warehouse before exploding.
Kelly Reid and her father Pascal Reid were onboard the Van’s RV-10 small plane that ripped through a building near Disneyland in California.
The four-seat, single-engine plane crashed at around 14:15PST on Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Harrowing footage shows the deadly collision as a giant fireball erupts after the small plane crashes into the building.
Another 19 people were left injured with at least 10 being rushed to hospital, according to the Fullerton Police Department.
Others received emergency care just outside the warehouse which sat just six miles away from Disneyland.
Kelly was a junior at Huntington Beach High School and played soccer and lacrosse with her school team, Daily Mail reports.
The school’s soccer team wrote in an Instagram tribute: “Kelly was an amazing girl […] genuine and kind with such passion for life.
“She was a loved member of the varsity team and wore the number six. Rest in peace, sweet Kelly.”
Her dad Pascal was an experimental aircraft builder and a US Army Aviation Veteran, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Aerial images of the destroyed building show how a giant hole had been created after the plane tore through the roof,
Debris from the charred wreckage can also be seen inside.
Police quickly evacuated the building as several fire crews arrived to extinguish the flames and rescue those still trapped inside.
Terrified witness Mark Anderson told KRCA-TV: “People are just shaken over the situation.
“It was just a large boom, and then one of the people went out and said, ‘Oh my gosh, the building’s on fire.'”
The plane appears to have been heading back towards the nearby airport shortly after it had taken off, according to KRCA-TV.
It was in the air for just under two minutes, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Investigations are ongoing into what could have caused the fatal crash.