Plane hits vehicle in fatal crash into busy California intersection, firefighters say

A private plane crash into a busy San Francisco Bay Area intersection killed one person, California firefighters reported.

The crash, involving a single-engine Vans RV-6, took place at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, in Concord, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The pilot, who was the only one aboard, died in the crash, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter.

The Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office later identified the pilot as Jacek Romanski, 75, of Berkeley, KRON reported.

The plane also struck a vehicle, firefighters said. The driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The crash occurred near Buchanan Field Airport, the FAA said.

“It had just taken off from the airport,” Battalion Chief Kevin Platt told KGO. “I’ve heard conflicting reports that it was doing touch-and-gos or had taken off several times already, I don’t know. But this time it had just taken off and it took what was reported to us as an abrupt nosedive.”

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

Concord is about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.

This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Plane hits vehicle in fatal crash into busy California intersection, firefighters say."