Five dead, three hurt after plane hits Oregon home in fog

Gearhart city officials said pilot Jason Ketchson and passenger Frank Toohey were aboard the plane that crashed in the early morning hours, apparently hitting a tree during conditions described as foggy with low clouds.Â

 

When the plane crashed, six people were in the four-bedroom rental home for a family reunion and vacation, City Administrator Dennis McNally said. A vacant house next door was also damaged.

 

The children killed were identified as Julia Reimann, 10, of Beaverton; and Hesam Farrar Masoudi, 12, and Grace Masoudi, 8, both from Denver.

 

Ruth Jackson-Reimann, 47, and two children, Christopher Reimann, 13, and Sarah Reimann, 11, were flown to Portland for treatment at a burn center, said Michael Griffiths, executive director of the regional emergency transport consortium Life Flight.

 

The hospital declined to release details about their conditions.

 

Jackson-Reimann rescued one of the children and another climbed out a window, officials said. Two adults staying at the home were out for a walk when the plane crashed.

 

The owner of the house, Greg Marshall of Portland, told The Oregonian newspaper that the victims arrived Sunday for a planned two-week stay.

 

The plane, a four-seat Cessna, was owned by Aviation Adventures in Seaside. The company had rented it to Ketchson, McNally said.

 

McNally said the plane had just taken off from the airport and was apparently headed to Klamath Falls in southern Oregon.

 

An explosion was reported about 20 seconds after the crash.

 

The cause of the crash has not been determined. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were on the scene.