LOS ANGELES _ At least four people died and as many as five others were missing Monday after a small plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in Riverside.
The plane was carrying a married couple and three teenagers who were returning home to San Jose after a cheerleading competition in Anaheim.
One person who died was believed to be a resident of one of the homes in the 6000 block of Rhonda Avenue. Officials are not certain whether the remaining known three fatalities were from the plane or on the ground, said Michael Moore, chief of the Riverside Fire Department.
A teenage girl who was on the plane survived with minor injuries, Moore said at a news conference. A second person, a resident who was pulled from one of the burning homes, was in "very critical" condition Monday night, he said.
The crash was reported about 4:40 p.m. The Cessna 310, which had just taken off from Riverside Municipal Airport, crashed into two houses on Rhonda, near the intersection of Streeter and Central avenues.
The plane went down about half a mile northeast of the airport, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's Pacific Division.
Television footage showed heavy smoke and flames coming from the houses, which quickly burned to the ground as fuel from the Cessna's full tank caught fire.
Debris was scattered across front lawns, landing as far as a half-mile away, Moore said.
The whole block of about 20 houses was evacuated. Late Monday evening, firefighters were still trying to put out the flames and look for three to five people who could be missing in the wreckage. The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
"It's horrible, especially when you couple together that ... this is supposedly a happy time, and then just to have a tragic incident like this," Moore said.
