Plane Crashes Into Home And Bursts Into Flames Leaving Pilot Dead

A pilot has died after a small plane crashed into a house in Southern California on Thursday causing a house fire, fire officials said. A father and a child inside the house have, however, escaped unscathed.

The single-engine Cirrus SR22 came down on a home in Upland, which is about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, at around 11 a.m., San Bernardino County firefighters, said.

The fire department declared the death of the unidentified pilot through a Twitter post.

The plane came down under unknown circumstances, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told Fox News.

Firefighters responded to the scene near 15th Street and Mountain Avenue at about 11 a.m. PT. They recalled that the flames were raging through the roof of the single-story home after the plane descended into it, jolting the whole neighborhood. TV news helicopters showed a large area of the house has been badly affected by the fire and still smoldering.

"We heard it, a loud boom," congregation pastor Micah Lugg at the Foothill Bible Church, said. "It took out us out of our offices and we saw the plumes of smoke. You knew it was disastrous by the size of the wreckage."

An emergency landing parachute associated with the aircraft was draped over trees. The fire was brought under control by 12:20 p.m.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA are jointly investigating the case. It particularly takes the NTSB about a year to determine the probable cause of a crash. A hazardous materials team was also called at the spot.

On the same day, two other people died after a small plane crashed into an SUV in a bid to make an emergency landing. The incident happened at the side of State Road 200, in Ocala, Florida, about an hour and a half from Orlando. Officials said that those who died were the passengers of the aircraft.