PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A private aircraft hit power lines on takeoff and crashed into a Palo Alto, Calif., neighborhood Wednesday, killing all three aboard, authorities said.
The twin-engine Cessna 310 took off in heavy fog from the Palo Alto Airport bound for Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
All three victims were employees of electric-car maker Tesla Motors of San Carlos, Calif., the newspaper said.
After striking power lines, the plane fell in pieces onto a home day-care center, other houses and vehicles in a residential neighborhood. No one on the ground was injured, officials said.
One child was in the day-care center but was uninjured.
Bre East, cousin of center operator Lisa Jones-Smith, said the center was expecting about a half-dozen other children, but they had not yet arrived.
"We're grateful that the kids weren't there," East said. "Everybody's OK. They're safe. The house is gone. You can rebuild, but you can't rebuild lives."
The 7:55 a.m. crash knocked out electricity to Palo Alto's 28,000 customers, including schools and a local hospital. The hospital remained operational on backup generators, the Chronicle said.
