Tragic Plane Crash Claims Three Lives in Portland Suburb

In a devastating incident east of Portland, a small plane crashed into a row of townhomes, resulting in the loss of three lives. According to officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) who spoke at a news conference on Tuesday morning, the Cessna 421C had departed from the nearby Troutdale Airport only minutes before the crash.

The ill-fated flight, which took place on Saturday at approximately 10:25 a.m., was intended as a maintenance test flight. Air Safety Investigator Michael Hicks from the NTSB revealed that the pilot had reported "issues with controllability" shortly after takeoff. Moments later, a nearby helicopter pilot alerted authorities that the plane had gone down in a residential area.

At this stage, the specifics of the reported issues remain unknown, but Hicks assured that the NTSB would conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause. However, determining the cause might take up to 18 months, he added.

The plane struck a set of power transmission lines before crashing in the Fairview neighborhood, approximately 1.5 miles west of the airport. Tragically, both occupants of the plane and one resident of a townhome lost their lives in the crash.

Furthermore, the impact of the crash damaged the transmission lines, leading to approximately 9,000 Portland General Electric customers losing power. Although the utility managed to restore service within five hours, the damaged lines required repairs before full functionality was regained. PGE, working in collaboration with NTSB personnel, successfully repaired and re-energized the transmission lines by 10 p.m. on Monday.

Providing further details, Gresham Fire Chief Scott Lewis addressed the severity of the incident during the news conference. He stated that the plane struck the second unit in a row of eight townhouses, resulting in the destruction of that unit and the neighboring ones. The fourth unit in the row is also likely beyond repair, he added. However, the fifth and sixth units are possibly salvageable, while the final two units likely sustained smoke damage.

In consideration of the victims, the names were not disclosed during the news conference. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office stated that the medical examiner's office was working diligently to confirm their identities and notify their families. The identities of the victims will be released publicly once this process is completed.

The community mourns the tragic loss of life in this plane crash, and the investigation conducted by the NTSB will hopefully shed light on the circumstances that led to this tragic event.