Light plane crashes in Sydney neighborhood, narrowly missing houses and schools; pilot killed

Light plane crashes in Sydney neighborhood; 1 dead

SYDNEY — A light plane crashed in a Sydney neighborhood Tuesday, narrowly missing houses and an elementary school. At least one person was killed and seven were taken to hospitals.

Authorities said the pilot died and they were trying to confirm if another person was on board.

“The plane is such a mess that we can’t confirm whether anyone else was on board,” New South Wales state Ambulance spokesman Richard de Groot said.

Debris from the plane smashed into a car that had three children and an adult inside. Two of the children and the driver were among seven people being treated for apparent shock.

The plane hit a power pole and came to rest partly in the street and the yard of a home in western Sydney. The crash was near Canley Vale Public School, and emergency officials evacuated about 80 students, teachers and parents to a nearby park.

The plane also brought down power lines, cutting electricity to thousands of homes.

Fuel from the burning wreckage poured into a drain, and set fire to a car parked above another drain about 65 feet (20 meters) away. The fire was extinguished.