A California homeowner narrowly cheated death when a small plane crashed just moments after he was trimming vegetation in his yard.
Still, the tragedy claimed the lives of two people and a dog as the small aircraft careened into a residential neighborhood in Simi Valley.
Watch the video down below.
The crash occurred when a Vans RV-10 single-engine aircraft plummeted into the Wood Ranch community.
Around 40 firefighters rushed to the scene, where they found the plane had crashed into two homes, causing extensive damage and igniting a fire that was eventually extinguished.
Witnesses described a harrowing scene as the aircraft appeared to be in distress moments before impact.
“There was another two minutes of this thing flying around…it was wobbling and just barely made it over the hill,” one witness said.
Security footage and eyewitness accounts revealed the plane was circling the neighborhood and flying dangerously close to homes before crashing.
Ring camera footage captured the explosion and massive fireball upon impact.
The aircraft had departed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster and was en route to Camarillo Airport when the incident occurred.
“I came in to the patio door to warn her, and then I heard the bang, then I turned around, she was almost out,” said homeowner Arman Hovakemian, who managed to escape with his wife just in time.
Visibly shaken by the close call, Hovakemian added, “I’m numb. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We’re fortunate we were able to get out.”
His home has since been red-taped as part of the investigation, preventing the family from returning inside.
Another neighborhood resident, simply identified as Joyce, described the terrifying moment.
“All of a sudden, we heard a big crash and our entire house started shaking. We actually thought something crashed into our house,” Joyce stated. She further described seeing a “big, massive fireball” after the impact.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the crash involved a Vans RV-10, which is typically sold as a kit for home assembly.
“The plane departed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster and was heading to Camarillo Airport. The FAA and NTSB will investigate,” the agency stated.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release preliminary findings within weeks, though the final report could take months.
First responders determined there was no significant hazardous materials risk from the crash.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd explained:
“There’s no apparent jet fuel. When firefighters arrive on scene for something like this, one of the things they want to try to determine is, do we have potential for a hazardous materials incident, significant fuel spill, something like that.”
While authorities continue to investigate what caused the aircraft to go down, weather conditions at the time were reported to be misty and cloudy, which may have contributed to the tragedy.
The names of the victims have not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.
Despite the extensive property damage, including to a second home belonging to P.J. Van Kralingen, no injuries were reported on the ground.
The Simi Valley Police Department had issued an alert for residents to avoid the area as emergency crews worked the scene.
New video shows the moment a small plane crashed into a Simi Valley neighborhood on Saturday afternoon, killing two people and a dog on board while spreading fire and destruction to nearby homes. pic.twitter.com/dGmzMF4hpA
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) May 5, 2025
