Victim in triple fatal plane crash in SoCal ID'd

SAN JOSE (BCN) -- The director of a Los Gatos preschool has identified a San Jose woman who died in a small plane crash in Riverside on Monday afternoon as Adine Farelas, who worked at the preschool until last fall.

Farelas was on her way back to San Jose after her younger sister's cheerleading competition, according to Peppertree Schools of Los Gatos co-owner Danna Osborn.

"The community has lost a really wonderful gal," Osborn said.

Farelas was one of three people killed when the plane, identified Tuesday by a National Transportation Safety Board investigator as a Cessna Turbo 310Q, crashed into a house at Central and Streeter avenues, 2 miles east of Riverside Municipal Airport.

The crash caused the house and the house next door to ignite. Both houses were red-tagged Tuesday and two others sustained smoke damage, displacing 14 people.

The plane's other two occupants, women between their mid 30s and early 40s, remained in critical condition at separate hospitals as of Tuesday.

Riverside County coroner's officials said they would announce the names of the three people killed either this evening or Thursday morning.

NTSB investigators and two Federal Aviation Administration representatives arrived at the crash site Tuesday morning to begin investigating the evidence before the wreckage was cleared.

Currently the airplane is "in quite a few pieces" spread over 100 or 150 feet, NTSB investigator Stephen Stein said at a news conference Tuesday.

Stein said a preliminary report would be posted sometime between this Sunday and March 10, but that the fact-gathering phase would take between 15 and 18 months. Once completed, that information, including a public docket, will be posted online.

The investigation encompasses information about the pilot's flight records and experience, the airplane itself and weather and lighting conditions at the time of the crash, Stein said.

Once the final report is released in late 2018, NTSB analysts will make safety recommendations if any systematic deficiencies are found.

"The safety element is our primary concern," Stein said.

Any witnesses to the crash have been asked to email NTSB investigators at witness@ntsb.gov.