2 Killed In Light Plane Crash That Set Fire To South Lake Tahoe House
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS/AP) -- Authorities say two people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed next to a house in South Lake Tahoe shortly after takeoff Saturday afternoon.
Lake Tahoe Airport director Sherry Miller says the Beech 35 Bonanza sparked a fire on a side of the house in South Lake Tahoe, but it was quickly extinguished Saturday.
The two-story house is less than a mile from the airport, in a semi-rural neighborhood surrounded by pine trees. The crash occurred about 5:40 p.m.
She says she didn't know the identities of the victims. The plane's destination wasn't immediately known.
Ginger Nicolay-Davis, a real estate agent who manages the house as a vacation rental, said two people and a dog inside the house got out safely. No one on the ground was hurt.
"They were sitting there relaxing in the living room and they heard what sounded like a tree had fallen," she said. "They assumed a tree had taken out a power line."
She said the damage to the house is significant, but it could have been much worse.
She said the pair inside the home, which included San Francisco playwright Rod McFadden, rushed outside without shoes and headed back to San Francisco. McFadden was in town for a three-day word and performance festival on the shores of South Lake Tahoe.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
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