KGW (NBC Portland) - Oregon plane crash - 2006-07-16
Channel: malgent
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] or go to Luna
[0:01] >> home is obliterated in this and the home
[0:04] owner was Donna Reynolds and she was not
[0:06] home at the time. She was actually in
[0:08] Portland at a garden show. So we have a
[0:10] confirmation that the homeowner was not
[0:13] uh home at the time. So no loss of life
[0:16] on the ground. Witnesses tell us that
[0:19] the pilot did not eject. No one saw him
[0:21] eject. We do know that he is an attorney
[0:24] from California. He restored the jet
[0:26] aircraft. It's a 1959 and it is a Hawker
[0:29] Hunter. We have John Becker live in Sky
[0:32] 8. John.
[0:33] >> Yeah, good afternoon guys. Uh these are
[0:35] I believe are the F-18 Hornets who were
[0:37] supposed to be in that show right uh
[0:40] really in the next uh the next act if
[0:42] you will. They are taking off. They're
[0:44] resuming flight operations here at the
[0:46] Hillsboro airport. Uh we just saw a jet
[0:48] land and as I was talking with uh our
[0:50] pilot Brian Sier, you know, perfect
[0:53] conditions to fly up here today. the
[0:55] winds out of the northnortheast. Uh
[0:57] you'll see these jets take that path in
[1:00] just a minute that that uh faithful
[1:03] airplane took that crashed about an hour
[1:06] and a half ago, guys. And you can see
[1:07] this is exactly what it would have done
[1:09] is lined up on on the runway like this
[1:12] headed out to the northn north wind into
[1:14] the wind as uh these jets are doing
[1:17] right now and taken that trip down the
[1:20] runway passing the folks at the air show
[1:23] passing the other planes that have
[1:24] gathered here. Again, this is a huge
[1:26] event. It's been going on for two days
[1:28] here uh in Hillsboro and a really
[1:31] terrific event. Been going on for almost
[1:34] two decades now. And you can see that
[1:36] military jet just streaking into the sky
[1:38] and and uh the winds really negligible
[1:41] at this point. So that's the the path
[1:43] that that jet would have taken and then
[1:45] circled around as uh as these guys are
[1:48] doing. And Scotty, we can bring them
[1:49] back now uh as you guys get a sense of
[1:52] of just sort of where the proximity is
[1:55] of the runway to the crash scene. So
[1:58] that jet would have circled back around
[2:00] and as we zoom back around, probably
[2:02] taken a little different path, a little
[2:03] wider path than we are taking, but then
[2:06] comes into view the neighborhood that
[2:08] we've been talking about for uh much of
[2:10] the last hour, guys.
[2:11] >> And we can see on the left hand side of
[2:13] the screen, it looks like fire crews
[2:15] dousing that one home there. Amy, you've
[2:17] been here longer than me. Is this one of
[2:18] the homes that caught on fire?
[2:20] >> There were three of them that the that
[2:21] the plane that Yes. Yes. Three homes
[2:24] involved. Three of them uh hit three
[2:26] homes. Two of them caught fire. One of
[2:28] the homes is a complete loss. That was
[2:29] Donna Reynolds, but her home, she was
[2:32] not home at the time. So, that is very
[2:34] good news indeed.
[2:35] >> That is good news. Hey, John, are you
[2:36] still there in Sky?
[2:37] >> Yes. Go ahead.
[2:37] >> Uh, does Brian know anything about this
[2:39] Hunter Hawker and what kind of maneuvers
[2:42] it would have been doing in the air
[2:43] show?
[2:44] >> Let me uh let me ask him, Brian, uh,
[2:47] they're asking what kind of maneuvers
[2:48] that the Hunter Hawker might have been
[2:49] doing. And from what I understand,
[2:51] Laurel, he might not have even engaged
[2:52] in any as of yet. But Brian, do you know
[2:55] any any maneuvers that that might jet
[2:57] might have been doing
[3:04] >> to the particular aircraft that was
[3:06] flying?
[3:07] >> From witness accounts, we do know that
[3:09] it seemed like it was a slower takeoff
[3:10] than normal and he had spun around and
[3:13] was the wings were literally tipping the
[3:16] trees and then it suddenly just floated
[3:19] just sunk right into the homes. And I
[3:22] can tell you a little bit more about
[3:23] this Hunter Hawker aircraft was a
[3:25] British fighter aircraft in the 50s and
[3:27] 60s sir for many years and the Royal Air
[3:29] Force has become an extremely popular
[3:32] plane at air shows. So not a curiosity
[3:34] that would be at this air show. We we
[3:36] don't have an ID on the pilot. We do
[3:38] know he was a California attorney and do
[3:39] not know the status yet of the pilot if
[3:41] he was able to eject from the aircraft.
[3:43] >> And this one photograph you see here is
[3:45] was taken right before it took off. And
[3:48] someone sent this to us at
[3:49] [email protected].
[3:51] All one word, [email protected].
[3:55] I'm not sure if we can bring up those
[3:56] other photographs that folks have al
[3:58] also emailed to us just after takeoff
[4:01] and then in the trees if we're able to
[4:03] do that. People have been sending in
[4:06] emails as you can imagine. 65,000 people
[4:08] out at the air show. Lot of cameras
[4:10] there. And
[4:11] >> there's a picture here and you can see
[4:12] that in the distance you can see the
[4:14] black smoke. There's a closer shot of
[4:16] the black smoke. That is what I heard
[4:17] initially when I was out driving around
[4:18] this afternoon. Uh, initially heard the
[4:20] report on the radio, people calling and
[4:22] said, "What is that black smoke?" So,
[4:23] everyone in the area saw this black
[4:25] smoke, this plume here, and I think
[4:28] people started to think the worst with
[4:29] the air show going on at that moment.
[4:31] >> Yeah. Your heart just sinks when you see
[4:32] something like that. Um, the roads in
[4:34] the area, Cornell shut down. This is uh
[4:36] northeast um northeast 60th and we have
[4:41] so many notes out here on our desk.
[4:43] Let's go to Key Chalmer's right now.
[4:44] She's on the ground near where the plane
[4:46] went down and the neighborhood that's
[4:47] affected. Key, what can you tell us?
[4:49] >> Well, um, basically I can tell you what
[4:51] I think we were having some audio
[4:52] difficulties the last time I came on,
[4:54] but I spoke with about five minutes ago
[4:56] the woman who owns one of the homes that
[4:59] was hit and we're told basically the
[5:00] home that suffered the most damage in
[5:03] this crash. Her name is Donna Reynolds.
[5:05] Uh, she was in Portland at like a garden
[5:07] show or garden tour when this crash
[5:09] happened. She came about 20 minutes
[5:11] after the crash. uh police wouldn't let
[5:13] her go past the lines. Uh she had gone
[5:16] to the show with a friend. So, her and
[5:17] her friend had left from the home. Uh
[5:19] obviously very concerned um not able to
[5:22] get back to the home to see the damage.
[5:24] She was just able to get back there
[5:25] probably about 5 or 10 minutes ago. Now,
[5:27] one of the things uh police officers out
[5:29] here wanted to talk to her about was
[5:30] whether or not she had somebody uh
[5:32] inside of the home, anybody she knew who
[5:34] may have been in the home or around the
[5:36] home because according to one of the
[5:37] police officers, there was a person that
[5:40] was unaccounted for in this area. And
[5:43] again, they were wanting to ask Donna
[5:44] and her friend if again somebody might
[5:46] have been in the home, in the car, or
[5:48] anywhere around this area. But uh those
[5:51] uh ladies told me that no, basically
[5:54] they left the home empty. They didn't
[5:56] know anybody who would have been in that
[5:57] area, but uh as we know from that
[6:00] conversation, it sounds like there might
[6:02] have been one person that is unaccounted
[6:04] for. Um but again, at this time, we're
[6:07] hearing of no injuries on the ground.
[6:09] But as we've mentioned and as um one of
[6:11] the gentlemen I spoke with a short while
[6:13] ago said that as he watched the plane go
[6:15] down, watch the plane take off, watch
[6:17] the plane basically kind of take off
[6:19] slowly and look to maneuver away from
[6:22] the neighborhood and possibly back
[6:24] toward the airport because they uh we
[6:26] can presume he might have known the
[6:27] pilot might have known there were some
[6:28] sort of mechanical problems um trying to
[6:31] get away from the neighborhood. uh sunk
[6:33] down below some trees uh to a level
[6:36] where witnesses say they would have been
[6:37] able to see if the pilot would have
[6:39] ejected or parachuted or tried to bail
[6:41] out of the plane. And they tell me that
[6:43] uh they did not see any of the sorts. Uh
[6:46] and then seconds later basically
[6:48] followed a uh saw a huge plume of smoke.
[6:51] Some witnesses reporting an explosion in
[6:54] uh in this area. But again um what we
[6:57] know right now uh no injuries at this
[7:00] point. But again, according to one of
[7:02] the officers that we spoke with just a
[7:03] while ago, one person may be unaccounted
[7:07] for. Who that person is, we don't know
[7:08] at this time.
[7:10] >> Key, thank you. We know that a press
[7:11] conference has been called. This will be
[7:13] at the uh at the Hillsboro Air Show.
[7:15] It'll happen at 6:30. News Channel 8's
[7:18] Jane Smith is there. And uh the press
[7:20] information officer for the air show has
[7:23] not confirmed the whereabouts of that
[7:25] pilot. From witness accounts, the pilot
[7:27] did not eject. They did not see a
[7:29] parachute. What witness accounts are
[7:31] saying is that the uh the aircraft
[7:34] floated down. It appeared to lose power.
[7:37] Its wing tips tipped those trees and
[7:39] then it hit three homes, two homes on
[7:42] fire. This happened at 4:28 this
[7:44] afternoon. The F-18s were on the runway
[7:47] getting ready to uh go and and take part
[7:50] in this as well. And uh immediately
[7:52] after this crash, the air show was shut
[7:55] down. the roads in the area there are
[7:57] are closed down right now.
[7:59] >> Let's go back up to John Becker in Sky
[8:02] and and what does the scene look like
[8:03] from your vantage point up there, John?
[8:05] >> Well, guys, uh really we you talk about
[8:07] traffic in the area and people are
[8:10] really getting the message staying well
[8:12] away from this area. Scotty, if you want
[8:14] to back out a little bit and
[8:15] firefighters, you know, we saw that
[8:17] initial white smoke that's really
[8:19] dissipated a lot when we first got on
[8:20] the scene about uh oh, about 45 minutes
[8:23] ago. And uh that that's great news. And
[8:26] you can see that's I believe that's
[8:27] Evergreen Parkway. And just uh across
[8:29] there in Intel campus uh Ronler Acres is
[8:32] what we've been uh guessing up here is
[8:35] uh where this near where this crash
[8:37] happened. You can see it there in Intel
[8:39] campus. And that may give you a
[8:40] geographic perspective of of just where
[8:42] we're sitting above here about uh uh
[8:45] 1,600 ft in the air again about 2 miles
[8:47] out from where this happened. Scotty, if
[8:49] you can move back toward the
[8:50] neighborhood again and uh give people a
[8:52] better idea of just how closely those
[8:55] homes are are grouped. Again, this just
[8:57] a normal neighborhood. Um and you you
[9:00] all heard the same reports I did that uh
[9:02] some kids uh selling uh things in the
[9:05] area at the time of this uh selling
[9:08] raffle tickets, some children going door
[9:09] todo. Um, so just normal operations and
[9:13] then all of a sudden out of nowhere
[9:14] comes uh comes a plane diving down into
[9:17] into the neighborhood. Um, it's been
[9:19] incredible to hear the people that have
[9:20] called us on the phone and and shared
[9:22] some of the stories of of what they saw
[9:24] today. Guys,
[9:25] >> indeed. There was a gentleman by the
[9:26] name of Greg Palum. He is a retired
[9:28] firefighter from the east coast. He
[9:30] happened to be there at the Hillsboro uh
[9:32] air show his first time. It's 19 years
[9:34] going and it was his first air show
[9:36] there in Hillsboro. He said that they
[9:38] announced that this was a restored jet
[9:39] aircraft in 1959, Hunter Hawker, that
[9:42] the uh pilot is a California attorney
[9:45] who lovingly restored this this
[9:47] particular aircraft. And there you see a
[9:49] photograph of it that one of our viewers
[9:50] took and sent that into us. This is just
[9:53] before it took off. They sent it to
[9:55] newses at kgw.com
[9:58] u sharing, you know, the some of the
[10:00] excitement out there.
[10:01] >> We want to go to Ron Peterson now, our
[10:03] meteorologist here, and uh talk about
[10:05] the weather conditions. always an
[10:06] important factor when uh fighting a fire
[10:08] and also during the air show. Ron, what
[10:10] can you tell us?
[10:11] >> Well, the air conditions have been just
[10:14] fabulous all day long. You've looked at
[10:16] sunny skies. You've seen temperatures in
[10:19] the mid 80s and the winds have been
[10:20] light and that's the way the weather has
[10:22] been all afternoon. It's still about 86°
[10:25] in Hillsbor. The winds are still light
[10:27] out of the northeast about 6 7 8 miles
[10:30] an hour and the weather will continue to
[10:33] be this way through the evening hours.
[10:34] So weather doesn't appear to be a factor
[10:37] for the firefighters. I doubt that it
[10:39] was a factor for the flight. Things have
[10:42] been moving smoothly weatherwise and
[10:44] will continue to be sunny and warm
[10:46] through the afternoon with nearly
[10:47] unlimited visibility.
[10:49] >> Ron Peterson with an update for us from
[10:51] our First Alert Storm Center on the
[10:52] weather conditions. Doesn't sound like
[10:53] that probably was much of a factor. John
[10:55] Becker, are you still with us up there
[10:56] in Sky 8?
[10:57] >> Go ahead, Laura.
[10:57] >> Can you see um if the firefighters have
[11:00] the fire pretty much put out on the
[11:01] ground? All I see pretty much is uh fire
[11:03] hoses.
[11:04] >> Yeah, that this is uh maybe a little bit
[11:07] of trickles of remaining smoke, but
[11:09] that's the area they've been
[11:10] concentrating on. As we pointed out a
[11:11] little bit earlier, um this unusual in a
[11:15] sense that there's just this one
[11:17] compounded area that they're focusing on
[11:19] and this is where they have been since
[11:21] we've been on the scene. No other places
[11:23] where they're putting water or uh you
[11:26] know have roped off areas. This is the
[11:28] one spot where they have really
[11:29] concentrated all their efforts on the
[11:31] three homes again that were hit by this
[11:34] one apparently or two obliterated by the
[11:37] impact of that jet when it went down
[11:38] around 4:30 this afternoon. Guys,
[11:40] >> John, maybe we can have uh Scott
[11:42] Williams pull out just a little bit and
[11:44] show a little broader vision. And we can
[11:46] see we see one home is completely gone.
[11:50] We know that three homes were hit, two
[11:52] on fire.
[11:53] >> So the home that we see here, Amy, I'm
[11:55] just asking you to fill us in here. the
[11:56] home with a big black cavernous area. Is
[11:59] is that where the home used to be?
[12:00] There's no home used to be. The woman
[12:02] who owns it, Donna Reynolds, was
[12:04] actually at a garden show in Portland,
[12:06] our reporter on the scene, right? Keers
[12:08] had talked to her and she was saying had
[12:10] she come home 20 minutes sooner, she
[12:12] would have
[12:12] >> had have had been right in the middle of
[12:14] all of that. So, luckily, no one inside
[12:16] her home
[12:18] >> just looks like a vacant lot at this
[12:19] point.
[12:19] >> It does. So, that would seem to be the
[12:21] impact where the plane went down uh
[12:23] right in that area. And John, you've
[12:25] been flying over that now for nearly an
[12:27] hour. Have you been able to see a
[12:28] fuselage or a bit of that aircraft yet?
[12:31] >> We've been looking and and just not able
[12:34] to find anything, guys. I mean, the
[12:36] biggest chunk we saw is is right kind of
[12:38] where Scotty's zooming right now. Um,
[12:41] and in little parts where the
[12:42] firefighters are are putting water on.
[12:44] And I'm assuming if this uh plane hit
[12:48] hit three homes indeed, you're looking
[12:50] at one maybe just to your left there uh
[12:53] of the screen that you can barely see a
[12:54] little bit of, but you can see some
[12:56] black smoke and that type of thing on
[12:57] where firefighters appear to have cut
[12:59] some holes to vent uh the roof a bit,
[13:01] vent the smoke so they could get at the
[13:03] fire. And then where they're standing uh
[13:06] w would be apparently Donna's home is is
[13:09] what I'm surmising from where we stand.
[13:11] And then where there's shooting water,
[13:12] it appears the other home that that was
[13:14] hit. That's sort of what I've gotten
[13:16] geographically from where we are right
[13:18] now, guys. And and at least half that
[13:20] home uh certainly missing as well.
[13:22] >> And John, from your from your vantage
[13:24] point, you have the unique view of how
[13:27] many fire crews are on site. We know
[13:30] this was a three alarm, which means that
[13:32] additional crews will be out there from
[13:35] possibly from more than just Hillsboro
[13:37] Fire Department.
[13:38] >> Absolutely. And and Scotty, if you can
[13:40] zoom in right now on that ladder truck
[13:42] uh to the right, we've been seeing him
[13:44] uh just on this scene all day and since
[13:47] we've been here and I guess the good
[13:49] news is he's putting that the ladder
[13:51] away and appears to be ready to vacate
[13:53] the area. You can see three trucks on at
[13:55] least three or four trucks on that side
[13:57] and then as if you move to the other
[13:59] side, Scotty, we'll see more uh more
[14:02] trucks come into view as well. So that's
[14:05] really where they concentrated at least
[14:07] uh you know a half dozen just in that
[14:10] vicinity and then other parts as well. I
[14:12] think we you pointed it out earlier,
[14:14] Amy. A lot of trees surrounding this
[14:16] area and had that fire gotten away from
[14:18] them, you can see at the bottom of your
[14:19] screen, uh, a lot of dry br grass and
[14:23] brush kind of around that area in that
[14:25] field there. And I'm sure that was a
[14:26] concern uh because these homes sit so
[14:30] close to that green space uh in that
[14:32] home uh there on the left side of your
[14:34] screen.
[14:35] >> They've certainly done a remarkable job
[14:36] holding it right there to that that area
[14:38] right around the home. We have Jane
[14:40] Smith um who is about to uh take part in
[14:43] a press conference and learn more
[14:44] information about this. But Jane, you've
[14:46] also spoken with an eyewitness.
[14:48] >> Right, Amy, and I have him here with me
[14:51] right now. His name is uh Steve Prrenup.
[14:54] And Steve, you were at the air show.
[14:56] Tell us what you saw.
[14:57] >> Uh we just saw the the hawker, the
[14:59] Nighthawker, whatever it's called, take
[15:01] off. And it take off really loud. And
[15:03] then uh we didn't hear anything for a
[15:05] while. I mean, usually when the planes
[15:06] take off, they just they fly around and
[15:08] you can hear them. watch them all the
[15:09] time, but it it disappeared for a while.
[15:10] So, we're looking other places. All of a
[15:12] sudden, everybody gasps and uh we all
[15:14] looked over there and then we see the
[15:15] plume of smoke and it just gets bigger
[15:16] and bigger and bigger and then uh then
[15:19] they they come on announcements and
[15:20] they're just like uh we're we're closing
[15:23] the air show early so everybody has to
[15:24] go home now. And then you see a couple
[15:26] helicopters take off and they go over
[15:28] there and then the emergency vehicles
[15:29] leave and they they go over there and so
[15:31] uh me and my friends got got in the car
[15:33] and we're like let's go check out what
[15:34] happened. So, we get over here. Well, we
[15:35] tried to get over here and then, you
[15:36] know, all the cops got all the roads
[15:39] blocked up, so we had to make our way
[15:40] over here. But, um,
[15:42] >> what what was going through your mind
[15:44] when you saw that? Did you didn't hear
[15:46] anything?
[15:46] >> I didn't hear any see any parachutes. I
[15:48] didn't see anything. I just hope the
[15:49] guy's all right. I mean, uh, my buddy's
[15:51] a pilot and, you know, I don't know. I
[15:53] don't know what to think. I mean, this
[15:55] is the second time this has happened to
[15:57] me. Like, watching a plane crash.
[15:58] >> What do you mean?
[15:59] >> Uh, I was at a the Dallas airport last
[16:01] year and we watched a plane crash there,
[16:03] too. So, it's kind of unlucky. I don't
[16:05] know if I should go to air shows
[16:06] anymore.
[16:07] >> And the one of the friends who's with
[16:09] you is a pilot.
[16:11] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[16:12] >> So, what is he thinking? What is he
[16:13] saying about all he was just he was just
[16:15] talking about how uh he was just
[16:18] thinking of what they were saying over
[16:19] the radio uh to each other, you know,
[16:21] playing down playing down, you know,
[16:25] he's just you and I were all kind of
[16:26] scared for the guy and and then we heard
[16:28] that uh it hit houses and so we just
[16:31] hope everything else in there is all
[16:32] right. Everybody in there is all right,
[16:34] you know.
[16:34] >> And Steve, we've been using some of your
[16:36] photographs on air today. Can you kind
[16:38] of walk us through some of the pictures
[16:39] that you took?
[16:40] >> Uh yeah, the first the first one was uh
[16:42] just the plane taking off. It was
[16:43] taxing. They're just like, "Here's the
[16:45] the the the its name." I don't I can't
[16:48] remember its name. Uh and then so then
[16:50] it took off. It was really loud. It was
[16:51] really It was a really nice plane. It
[16:53] was really shiny and stuff. So, uh it
[16:55] took off and then it circled around and
[16:57] then all of a sudden it it blew up. And
[16:58] so I'm like, I got to take pictures, you
[17:00] know? I got to keep I gota got to keep
[17:03] the camera on it. And so we took
[17:04] pictures continuously of the smoke
[17:06] getting when it was small and it was
[17:07] getting larger and larger and then it
[17:10] was just really big. Oh yeah, there's
[17:11] the smoke when it was smaller. Um and
[17:14] then it just it keeps getting bigger and
[17:16] bigger and bigger, you know. It was just
[17:18] pretty scary. It was a nice jet. It was
[17:20] a real nice jet. I guess there was a it
[17:22] was a lawyer that was flying the the jet
[17:24] now that I remember. The guy over the
[17:26] intercom said it was a lawyer uh
[17:28] aviation lawyer that was flying the jet.
[17:30] So
[17:30] >> yeah.
[17:31] >> Well, Steve, thank you so much for
[17:32] sharing your photographs with us and and
[17:35] uh telling us your eyewitness
[17:36] experience. We appreciate you talking to
[17:38] us today. So Amy and Laurel, we are
[17:40] waiting for the public information
[17:42] officers from the Hillsboro airport as
[17:44] well as Hillsboro Police Department to
[17:45] come here and update us on the
[17:47] situation. That is very latest from the
[17:49] neighborhood. We are at Northeast 58th
[17:52] and Harvest. Back to you.
[17:53] >> Well, very interesting to hear Steve's
[17:55] insight and to see his pictures from the
[17:57] air show. Um Steve was telling us that
[18:00] uh he saw the plane take off low and
[18:02] then disappeared. Everyone gasped when
[18:04] they saw a plume of smoke and then uh
[18:06] they immediately closed the air show as
[18:09] emergency vehicles rushed in. It must
[18:11] have been uh disastrous day for everyone
[18:13] out there to see that happen right
[18:15] before their eyes.
[18:16] >> Indeed. John Becker is uh in Sky8 with
[18:20] Brian Sonier and and uh John, we're
[18:23] seeing these these photographs that are
[18:25] coming into our newsroom and and we're
[18:26] seeing the what you're what you're
[18:29] showing us from Sky 8.
[18:32] Yeah, I wish uh I wish we had some
[18:34] before and after pictures of this
[18:35] neighborhood, but you can see there's a
[18:36] tarp over that red car that appears to
[18:38] be a garage there um that is partly
[18:42] obliterated from that house and you can
[18:45] see burned out there. where we've seen
[18:46] firefighters in space suits uh walking
[18:49] through there those really heavily fire
[18:51] retardant suits um with the silver on
[18:54] them and some of them pulling out now.
[18:57] It looks like they they really uh
[18:59] obviously have gotten all the the smoke
[19:02] the fire danger out of the way and just
[19:05] sort of in the cleanup phase now. And as
[19:06] we've been doing throughout the day,
[19:08] guys, I'm going to ask Scotty to pull
[19:09] out and give you some perspective of
[19:11] where the crash scene is in relation to
[19:13] the airport for folks just coming home.
[19:15] home. As we know, this is a Sunday
[19:16] night. A lot of people just getting home
[19:18] wondering what's going on. Well, we're
[19:20] out near the Hillsboro airport where
[19:21] there was an air show. Some 65,000
[19:24] people in attendance over the last few
[19:26] days certainly. And you can see as we
[19:28] pan around from the crash scene where
[19:31] this uh Hawker Hunter went down. You can
[19:33] see the two run the runway here at
[19:35] Hillsboro. Um and it's an absolutely
[19:38] perfect day to fly according to our
[19:40] pilot Brian Sier. He says, you know,
[19:42] light winds out of the northnortheast.
[19:44] Perfect conditions to take off there.
[19:46] And as we pull back around, uh you can
[19:48] or you as Scotty's zooming in there, you
[19:50] can see some of the aircraft that were
[19:51] were at the air show. As you mentioned,
[19:54] Amy a little bit ago, they uh as soon as
[19:56] the the smoke started to billow from
[19:58] this neighborhood nearby. Uh the air
[20:00] show quickly cancelled and uh people
[20:03] asked to to go home safely. And as we
[20:06] move back, Scotty, toward the toward the
[20:08] neighborhood, you'll get a sense that
[20:09] pilot would have uh taken off um in in
[20:13] in that direction, just as the camera is
[20:15] moving there, that's toward Highway 26
[20:18] um and taken off and then looped around
[20:21] uh in these skies. We're flying at about
[20:23] 1,600 ft um and probably made a wide
[20:27] turn. You can see another helicopter up
[20:30] here with us as it came around. Um, and
[20:32] then we'll loop back down and you can
[20:34] get a better sense. That's uh part of
[20:36] Ronler acres here out at Intel. And then
[20:39] as we move back across, you'll see that
[20:42] uh that neighborhood comes into view.
[20:45] And also the the crash scene. Not a real
[20:47] tightly packed neighborhood, but
[20:49] certainly dense, what you would expect
[20:50] out here. And again, just beyond that
[20:52] green space there, you can see the
[20:54] remainder of uh what's left of this jet
[20:57] that went down. Again, it hit three
[20:59] homes. Um two caught fire. certainly and
[21:02] and brought three alarms out here. But
[21:04] as we mentioned earlier, firefighters
[21:06] really wrapping up that ladder truck in
[21:08] the bottom right hand portion of your
[21:09] screen was really working this fire hard
[21:11] initially and has backed off as have a
[21:13] lot of the firefighters with hoses just
[21:15] really pretty much ground work now. We
[21:17] once saw them on rooftops and that type
[21:19] of thing pouring water on this scene and
[21:21] they backed off that now guys.
[21:23] >> John, thank you. We can show the uh
[21:26] photograph of the Hawker Hunter and give
[21:28] you some background on this aircraft.
[21:30] It's a British fighter aircraft from the
[21:32] 1950s and60s served for many years in
[21:34] the Royal Air Force and it's become an
[21:36] extremely popular plane at air shows.
[21:38] This carries a crew of one member. It's
[21:40] about 13 ft high and you see it's about
[21:42] 45 ft long. The maximum speed for this
[21:45] aircraft is about 715 m an hour. Folks
[21:48] saying that this took off more slowly
[21:50] than you would expect. If you go to many
[21:52] air shows, you know, they just they they
[21:54] take off immediately and that it uh the
[21:57] roll out appeared more slowly and it
[22:00] kind of floated and then hit the trees
[22:02] and then hit the homes.
[22:05] >> You mentioned the picture there, Amy.
[22:07] Steve Printa, the the man that James
[22:08] Smith was just talking to, took that
[22:10] picture as well as a number of other
[22:11] ones we showed you from our viewers. You
[22:12] can see pictures here on the left. And
[22:14] if you were out at the air show,
[22:15] thousands of people were out there or in
[22:17] the neighborhood and you took pictures.
[22:18] We would really like to put your
[22:19] pictures on the air. They really tell a
[22:21] broader story of what happened today.
[22:23] So, please email us your pictures at
[22:26] [email protected].
[22:28] That's [email protected] and we'll get
[22:30] those on the air to more fully tell the
[22:32] story. We're also going to carry a news
[22:34] conference live at 6:30 so that the
[22:36] people from the air show can tell us
[22:38] more about what they know about what
[22:39] happened. Let's go live now to Key
[22:41] Chmer's on the ground. She has
[22:42] information about a homeowner and also
[22:44] about uh some witnesses. Killing.
[22:46] >> Yeah, as you just said, there is a press
[22:48] conference scheduled to take place here
[22:50] in about 10 minutes. We just saw the
[22:52] PIO's drive through the police line in
[22:54] that white car down there. It looks like
[22:56] right now they're kind of debriefing uh
[22:58] gathering information and again, we
[23:00] expect to hear from them in less than 10
[23:02] minutes. I also just spoke with another
[23:05] uh neighbor, a woman who lives about
[23:06] three homes away from the crash. She
[23:10] also not allowed to go home, not allowed
[23:13] to cross this uh police line here. But
[23:16] she said um she was on her way back home
[23:18] when the crash happened. She got a phone
[23:20] call from her husband who was out in the
[23:22] driveway watching the air show. He she
[23:25] says that her husband watches the air
[23:26] show every year from the driveway. He
[23:29] called her and she said he she had never
[23:31] heard him sound like this before. He was
[23:33] devastated. He said, "You won't believe
[23:35] this, but I just watched a plane come in
[23:38] and crash literally yards away from our
[23:41] house." Um, obviously folks in this
[23:43] neighborhood devastated by what they
[23:46] witnessed. One um person said it it
[23:48] looked like the plane came in kind of
[23:50] perpendicular
[23:52] and crashed into the home. Uh right now,
[23:54] this woman not able to even find her
[23:56] husband. Apparently, this area
[23:58] evacuated. Uh again, folks, um loved
[24:01] ones not knowing where a lot of their
[24:03] loved ones are at this point. Uh because
[24:05] again, this area has been evacuated. Um
[24:07] not they don't know where the the the
[24:09] residents have been evacuated to. But
[24:11] again, as John pointed out, the fire
[24:12] under control right now. We're really
[24:14] not seeing smoke. Um we expect to hear
[24:16] from the PIOS on this uh on this crash,
[24:19] the investigation um which is obviously
[24:22] ongoing and try to get more details to
[24:25] you here just momentarily. And Kila, you
[24:27] were mentioning, you know, people
[24:29] wondering where their loved ones are. We
[24:30] probably should let folks know who are
[24:32] just tuning in that we have no reports
[24:33] of any injuries on the ground. You
[24:35] mentioned possibility of one person
[24:37] unaccounted for, but so far no injuries
[24:39] reported and um we don't know the status
[24:41] of the pilot, but if people are worrying
[24:43] about people they haven't been able to
[24:44] get in contact with on the ground,
[24:46] they're probably just moved to another
[24:47] area that everyone seems to be okay.
[24:49] Indeed. Uh we will have more information
[24:51] from uh the press information officers
[24:53] are going to have a press conference in
[24:55] just a few moments. We will carry that
[24:57] live to give you more information. These
[24:59] are new photographs coming into our news
[25:01] desk, newses atkgw.com,
[25:04] folks sharing what they witnessed this
[25:06] afternoon. This was about 4:28. We have
[25:09] Dave Celelesi on the line who can shed
[25:11] some light on this Hawker Hunter. Dave?
[25:14] >> Yeah, Amy. It's uh was used. It was a
[25:16] frontline military uh jet for the
[25:18] British Air Force, the RAF, back in the
[25:20] late 1950s, early 1960s. Uh they're all
[25:23] have been retired from British military
[25:25] service in all of the the Commonwealth
[25:27] countries back in the 1960s, 1970s. Very
[25:31] powerful jet. Uh Front Line has a has a
[25:34] a pretty good history of of safety with
[25:36] it. Uh strong airframe and uh those that
[25:40] are that are left flying right now are
[25:42] like what you saw out of Hillsboro are
[25:44] on the air show circuit.
[25:46] >> And Dave, from what we've been hearing,
[25:47] the weather was really just perfect for
[25:49] flying. Is that what you'd say, too? as
[25:51] it's quite true. As a matter of fact,
[25:53] Laurel, I was up this this morning and
[25:54] this afternoon in my own airplane. It
[25:56] was clear blue skies as pilots call it.
[25:59] It was Kaboo conditions, which is clear
[26:01] and visibility unlimited. Uh it was warm
[26:04] as we know. I mean, temperatures were in
[26:06] the 80s, but uh the winds were light and
[26:09] uh you know, a lot of folks were out
[26:10] flying today that uh that had their own
[26:12] private airplanes and weather did not to
[26:15] the best of my knowledge anyway, uh play
[26:17] any kind of a of an issue with this
[26:19] accident. I know you're not an
[26:20] investigator, Dave, but can you give us
[26:22] a range of scenarios that from the
[26:24] witnesses that we've heard from saying
[26:25] that the plane took off low and
[26:27] disappeared below the tree line of what
[26:30] might have gone on, might have happened,
[26:32] mechanical problems? It
[26:34] >> it sounds like it's some sort of a
[26:35] mechanical problem with this aircraft. I
[26:37] mean, a scenario here might be since
[26:39] this airplane was performing at an air
[26:41] show, typically they would be doing
[26:43] what's called a a a high performance
[26:45] takeoff or max power takeoff where the
[26:47] pilot runs down the runway uh takes off
[26:51] and does some kind of maneuver on
[26:53] takeoff with this aircraft. I mean,
[26:54] understand this is a a very high
[26:57] performance aircraft even for the day,
[26:59] you know, today when this airplane was
[27:01] made in the 1950s. Uh you know, even
[27:03] today is still considered quite high
[27:04] performance. uh the pilot probably did
[27:06] some kind of a of a a full performance
[27:08] takeoff. Something mechanical may have
[27:11] gone wrong. Uh some kind of an engine
[27:13] failure perhaps or or even you know
[27:16] ingestion of material what they call fod
[27:19] or foreign object or foreign debris
[27:21] could have been sucked up by that jet
[27:22] engine and could have caused some kind
[27:24] of a power failure.
[27:25] >> Well, thank you for your insight, Dave.
[27:26] I'm sure it'll be quite a long time
[27:28] before investigators piece together
[27:29] exactly what happened. Again, we don't
[27:30] know the status of the pilot. No one did
[27:33] see him eject. No parachute was seen,
[27:35] but we don't have any official word or
[27:37] ID on the man. He is a California
[27:39] attorney, the owner of the 1959 restored
[27:41] Hunter Hawker, but no name right now.
[27:44] Thank you, Dave. We'll check back with
[27:45] you later on if you could stick around
[27:46] for us. We want to go back to John
[27:47] Becker live in Sky8 for an touch back
[27:49] with you, John, before we go to a live
[27:51] news conference.
[27:52] >> Absolutely, guys. We're going to pan up
[27:53] and just show you the visibility here. A
[27:56] great view, and you'll see Dave Celelesi
[27:58] talking about how clear it's been today.
[28:01] And you can see as uh we move off to the
[28:04] the direction of the mountains, you'll
[28:06] get a good sense uh just at uh 15 and
[28:09] 1600 ft where we're flying, you can see
[28:12] St. Helens there in the foreground and
[28:14] you can see um definitely Mount Adams as
[28:17] well. All all sort of coming into play.
[28:19] Mount Rineer even in the distance. I
[28:22] mean for for us it's a five mountain day
[28:24] at this elevation which is pretty
[28:26] incredible. Again, Mount St. Helens in
[28:27] the foreground there. from Mount Reineer
[28:29] just over its uh shoulder there on the
[28:31] back part of your screen. And we'll take
[28:32] you back down uh to the scene now. Thank
[28:35] you for that, Scotty. And you can see
[28:36] just how uh crowded, how dense this
[28:39] neighborhood is as we move back over
[28:41] Ronler Acres, the intel campus out here
[28:44] and back over to the scene of where this
[28:46] this jet went down. Again, uh it went
[28:49] down fairly shortly after takeoff
[28:51] according to all the witnesses that
[28:52] we've heard. Dave Celeleski talking
[28:54] about it losing power fairly quickly.
[28:56] And that's jived with what uh what I've
[28:58] heard from all the witnesses that we've
[29:00] used um on our air as well as uh radio
[29:03] that I was talking about as well. And
[29:05] again, we zoom back in and you can see
[29:07] the density here of the home and the
[29:08] neighborhood we're talking about just to
[29:10] update the fire again, guys. They really
[29:12] had this under control fairly quickly
[29:14] right after we got here. We've been on
[29:16] scene now for a little more than an hour
[29:19] and uh they initially when we got on
[29:22] scene there was smoke billowing from
[29:23] that crash scene and now it's really
[29:26] backed off and the firefighters sort of
[29:28] backing out and we were awaiting that
[29:30] press conference down on the ground and
[29:32] I'll send it back down to you as well.
[29:34] >> John, just want to ask you really
[29:35] quickly. Um how far do you estimate from
[29:37] where you are from the from the runway
[29:39] is the crash scene?
[29:41] >> Um well it's not that many blocks,
[29:44] Laurel. I uh I'm trying to give you a
[29:46] good good visual on that and probably a
[29:49] quarter of a mile maybe um if that. Um
[29:52] really uh you know we we heard so many
[29:54] good witness accounts of people at the
[29:56] air show who who could see that smoke
[29:58] billowing and really had a clear view of
[30:00] it. So it really wasn't