When the sound of an explosion shook Jeremy Lovell awake around 10:15 a.m. Saturday, he first thought it was a dream. But the blast — which rattled his RV and those of his neighbors at the Portland Fairview RV Park — was no dream. It was the sound of a small plane crashing into a row of condos only a few blocks away.
Within minutes, there was a plume of smoke billowing into the air, followed shortly by the sound of sirens.
While officials have not identified the pilot or passenger, Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis told The Oregonian/OregonLive at the scene in Fairview that two people were on the plane and a person was still missing from one of the condos, which are located near the Troutdale Airport. The explosion set four condo units on fire, Lewis said.
He added that the plane passengers have not been found.
The FAA said in a statement that the plane was a twin-engine Cessna 421C.
Lewis said that the crash sparked a five-alarm fire inside the condo complex, prompting about 20 fire engines, five ladder trucks and teams of firefighters to descend on the scene.
He added that two power lines also went down, although officials cannot confirm if they were hit by the plane.
After the blast woke him up, Lovell said he got dressed and started walking east down Northeast Sandy Boulevard in the direction of the crash.
Determined to learn more about what had happened minutes before, the 28-year-old UPS package handler entered the neighborhood around Northeast Heartwood Circle and was met with the smell of smoke, the sounds of people crying and the sight of multiple condos burning, he said.
He could also see the hole the plane had left as it apparently went through one condo and into another.
“It’s like a perfect half ring (hole)” Lovell said. “And then (it) went straight into the next house over.”
Lovell extensively documented the damage with his phone and shared the footage with The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The entire neighborhood was outside watching as firefighters fought the flames, and debris was scattered around the neighborhood, he said, including a piece of fence, broken glass and even part of a tree that had fallen on a neighbor’s yard.
Some people were crying as they learned that they would have to leave their homes, he said, while others rushed to help their neighbors out of the area.
Minutes before the crash, 58-year-old Dave Press, a maintenance worker for Portland Fairview RV Park, was talking to a resident when he heard the sound of an airplane engine nearby.
Press, who had worked for the airline industry for 13 years prior to working in maintenance, said it sounded like there was something wrong with the plane.
“The engine sounded horrible,” he said. “I go, ‘That doesn’t sound good, he’s going to crash, gonna crash.’ And he did.”
Press added that he thought he could hear the sound of snapping power lines, and then he heard the explosion.
“It went boom just like about a few seconds later,” he said. “It was loud, very loud.”
Authorities have not released the tail number of the plane, but air traffic control recordings collected by LiveATC.net show that Troutdale Airport’s controllers were communicating with a plane that was having flight issues shortly before the crash.
“(We’re) having some handling problems,” the pilot says to a controller in the recording.
“That aircraft went down,” a person can be heard saying a little over a minute later.
Three minutes later another controller can be heard on the recording.
“I’ve just got an airplane crash,” they said. “I gotta make some calls.”
The National Transportation Safety Bureau said in a statement that they are investigating the crash.
— Tatum Todd covers crime and public safety. Reach them at [email protected] , or 503-221-4313.
— Zaeem Shaikh contributed to this report. Zaeem covers the Portland Police Bureau and criminal justice issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-221-4323, [email protected] or @zaeemshake.
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