Tuesday, August 07, 2007


JUNEAU, Alaska, Aug. 7, 2007 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- A single-engine plane plowed into an empty home and set it ablaze, killing all four people aboard only a block from a downtown street bustling with cruise ship tourists visiting the coastal town of Sitka.

The owner of the home, Tess Heyburn, followed others running toward the fiery crash Monday afternoon. She had been sitting in a nearby restaurant when the plane went down.

'It sounded like something had fallen off a truck. Then I saw a lot of people running and I followed suit _ and saw that it was my house,' the 49-year-old massage therapist said in a telephone interview.

The investigation will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, which was to begin surveying the site Tuesday morning, said Lt. Barry Allen of the Sitka Police Department.

One witness said the plane barely missed a busy street where tourists off a cruise ship were shopping and sightseeing.

'One block to the south and there would have been numerous casualties,' said Jane Hoerner, of Bismarck, N.D. 'It was quite a populated area with tourists just walking around enjoying the day.'

The plane took off from Victoria, British Columbia, and was heading to the Sitka airport, local and federal officials said.

The plane was owned by Hendrickson Aviation LLC, a Delaware corporation, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's registry.

David Hoerner said he and his wife were taking photos of landmarks depicting Sitka's signature Russian history when a noise in the low-lying fog above caught their attention.

'First we heard the sound of the plane, then the plane hitting trees,' David Hoerner said. 'You could tell it hit power lines, because they were dancing around, then you heard the impact. The trees clipped the wing and the plane must have gone barreling into the house.'

Sitka, with a population of nearly 9,000, is located about 90 miles south of Juneau, on the west coast of Baranof Island fronting the Pacific Ocean.

The small plane so damaged Heyburn's home that it will have to be demolished. Other houses on Heyburn's block were occupied when it crashed just outside downtown Sitka.

'A lot of my neighbors have kids and they're home all the time,' she said. 'I would've been at home, too, but my friend called me to meet him for a milkshake.'

Heyburn, a 14-year resident, said at least 10 people have offered to open up their homes to her. 'I've been surrounded by a lot nice people,' she said. 'I have a place to stay.'

She said her prayers were with those on the plane and that she was grateful to be alive and that no one on the ground was hurt. 'Right now I'm pretty much looking at it like a miracle,' she said.

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Associated Press writer Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage contributed to this report.

Newstex ID: AP-0001-18712750


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