Last Updated on November 8, 2019 by CCAR Staff
It was just before 11 a.m. Thursday, and it was nap time. Except that Emmitt Tonello, who turns 2 in January, wanted to play. So his dad, Matthew, took him outside their Upland home for a while before coming inside, into the kitchen.
Just then, a single-engine airplane crashed into the house, bursting into flames, killing the pilot and destroying the Overland Court house. The rooms where Emmitt and his dad would have been sleeping were obliterated. But the two were just far enough away from the impact that Matthew was able to grab Emmitt and run out the back way as flames curled around the walls toward them.
Tonello, 32, said he saw the shadow of the plane approaching nearby Cable Airport growing close and heard the engine go “pop pop” before the plane hit the house.
“As soon as I heard the explosion I dropped to the ground and looked at my baby and saw the look on his face. He was terrified,” Tonello said. “I didn’t think of anything other than running toward him, grabbing him off the couch and running out the back.”
Words failed Tonello when he tried to describe the sound: “The craziest, nastiest way to describe the explosion, that’s it.”
Neither was injured, although Tonello has been coughing quite a bit recently, perhaps, he said, because of the smoke.
He said that he was grateful that his wife, Heather, 41, and daughters Lyndi, 16, and Kessid, 13, were not at home.
Tonello said even though he “could throw a rock” and hit the airport, “I would never have imagined in a million years a plane crashing into the house.”
The family lost some irreplaceable items, including wedding and honeymoon videos and film Tonello shot of Emmitt’s birth. His wedding ring, which he removes at home, is somewhere in the rubble.
The family’s clothes and computers were destroyed. A GoFundMe page titled, “A plane crash destroyed our family’s home” is raising money to replace those items. Tonello was speaking Friday as he drove home with a crib a friend had given him and said he was grateful for the assistance his family has received so far.
“I’m sorry for the pilot who lost his life,” Tonello said. “My prayers go out to his family, but I’m just blessed that my entire family was out and nobody was hurt.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board began sifting through the wreckage.
The NTSB will be looking at the condition of the plane, the area around the crash, the weather at the time of the accident, the pilot’s flying record and the plane’s maintenance log as investigators try to determine what led to the crash, said Terry Williams, NTSB spokesman. They also will be interviewing witnesses.
“We are in the early stages, the fact-gathering phase,” Williams said. The NTSB may release a preliminary report in a week or 10 days, he said. A full report will take about a year or more.
Engine remnants are removed from an Upland home after a plane crash into it yesterday. @pressenterprise @sbsun @RedlandsNews @ivdailybulletin pic.twitter.com/LNIFAKcZmf
— Cindy Yamanaka (@Cyamanaka7) November 8, 2019
The pilot died when the aircraft fell from the sky on Thursday.
More than half of the ranch house was reduced to charred rubble. The roof of the living room caved in but the eastern part of the house appeared untouched.
Firefighters said the pilot was believed to be the only person on board the plane. The craft was identified as a Cirrus SR22, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said. The pilot’s identity had not been publicly announced as of Friday night.
The four-seater plane was flying from Zamperini Field in Torrance to Cable Airport in Upland, located about two miles from the Upland neighborhood where the plane crashed. It had flown from Palm Springs to Torrance on Wednesday, Gregor said.
The plane is registered to a licensed pilot with an address in Palos Verdes Estates, FAA records show.
Staff Writer Richard K. De Atley contributed to this article.
