By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A retired Chicago police officer was piloting a small plane that broke apart shortly after takeoff in Yorba Linda, California, and crashed into a house, killing four people, officials said on Monday.
The twin-engine Cessna 414 reached an altitude of about 7,800 feet (2,400 meters) before plummeting to the ground on Sunday at high speed, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Maja Smith said at a news conference.
"A few witness reports say they saw the airplane coming out of a cloud at a very high speed before parts of the airplane such as tail and then subsequently wings started to break off," Smith said. "So we're dealing with an in-flight break-up."
The pilot had taken off from nearby Fullerton Municipal Airport in Yorba Linda, about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Los Angeles, officials said.
The plane spread debris over a four-block area on its way down, which Smith said is consistent with the witness reports of mid-flight break-up.
Residents have told local media the crash sounded like an explosion. But Smith said witnesses have not reported seeing any detonation while the plane was in the air.
The pilot, the only person on board, was Antonio Pastini, 75, a resident of Gardnerville, Nevada, Orange County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Cory Martino told reporters.
Pastini, who Martino said was a retired Chicago police officer, is the only victim of the crash who has been identified.
DNA EVIDENCE
Authorities planned to use DNA evidence to identify the two males and two females who died after the bulk of the wreckage hit a house they were in and the structure burst into flames.
It was not immediately clear if the four people lived at the house or were guests there, Martino said.
Two other people were hospitalized with moderate burns, he added.
Resident Nancy Mehl, 65, said she heard the high-pitched whine of an airplane engine and took cover in her home with her two dogs, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"And then it felt like a bomb went off through the front of the house," she told the newspaper.
Flying debris smashed through windows and a propeller crashed in her driveway, while a burning wing landed in another resident's front yard, according to the newspaper.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Peter Szekely in New York and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Cynthia Osterman)
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