“The coroner is still working on the formal identification,” Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Matthew Timmins told The Epoch Times.
The county coroner is expected to take at least one more day to identify the victims because of the “nature of the crash,” he said.
Fullerton police had cleared the scene by noon Friday and released it to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for further investigation, Fullerton police spokeswoman Kristy Wells told The Epoch Times.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating, according to city officials.
The crash happened just after 2:30 p.m. on Thursday in the 2300 block of Raymer Avenue in Fullerton, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The single-engine airplane left the Fullerton Airport at about 2 p.m. and flew straight ahead to an altitude of about 900 feet before calling for an immediate return to the airport, according to NTSB investigator Eliott Simpson.
“The tower controller then cleared the pilot to land on any runway,” Simpson said.
The plane appeared to make a 180-degree left turn before crashing through the roof of a furniture manufacturing building about 1,000 feet short of the runway.
The plane burst into flames upon impact, according to police. Authorities began evacuating surrounding businesses because of the fire.
Firefighters from Fullerton and Orange County extinguished the flames and began a rescue effort.
In addition to the two deaths, 19 people working inside the building were injured, police reported. Eleven of the victims were taken to area hospitals and the others were treated at the scene.
Law enforcement was not able to confirm whether the two who died were inside the airplane. ABC7, a local television station, reported that the pilot and his teenage daughter were killed, but officials could not confirm that with The Epoch Times.
The Fullerton City Council released a statement thanking the first responders.
Mayor Fred Jung also praised them.
“Your extraordinary efforts remind us of the strength and resilience of our community. As we come together in the wake of this tragedy, the City of Fullerton is committed to providing support for all those affected and working with the agencies involved to uncover the details of this incident,'' he said.
Simpson said the plane was flying under “visual flight rules,” which did not require the pilot to file a flight plan.
Investigators did not know the pilot’s intended destination, Simpson told reporters at an afternoon briefing, adding that weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash.
The plane was a homemade four-seater that Van’s Aircraft RV-10 built in 2011.
The RV-10 is a “very popular airplane,” according to Simpson, who said that about 1,100 have been built.
A preliminary report is expected from NTSB within about two weeks, with the final report expected to take up to 18 months to complete, he said.
Fullerton fire officials said the warehouse was damaged significantly.
