A small plane crashed into a residential area of Simi Valley on Saturday afternoon, authorities said, killing the pilot and setting two structures on fire. The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot, who wasn’t immediately identified, was the only person aboard the aircraft. The FAA said the plane was a Vans RV-10, a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft that is sold in kit form and is typically home-built. The plane departed from William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster and was traveling to Camarillo Airport when it crashed in Simi Valley, according to the FAA. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. NTSB will lead the investigation and provide future updates. The plane crashed in the backyard and dining room of Arman and Armineh Hovakemian. Arman Hovakemian said he was doing yard work when he noticed the plane above, circling lower and lower in the hillside neighborhood. Fearful that the plane was spiraling toward his home, he ran inside to get his wife and their Pomeranian dog, Koko. A loud bang followed and the fuselage landed where he had stood in the yard, he said.
Firefighters work at the site of a plane crash in the Wood Ranch section of Simi Valley, Calif., on Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press) The smell of gas filled the air and the side of their home caught fire, he said, causing the couple to flee as neighbors called 911. “I’m overwhelmed,” Arman Hovakemian said, standing in the street as dozens of firefighters and police officers surrounded his home. A light rain misted the street as neighbors watched a fire truck with a ladder hoisted over their residence. “I’m numb. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “We’re fortunate we were able to get out.” The other home damaged by the plane belongs to P.J. Van Kralingen and his wife, Iris. The couple were at the Getty Center when they got a text about the crash. Two of their three dogs somehow escaped the home during the incident and are still missing, said P.J. Van Kralingen, standing in the street. Still, he expressed gratitude that no one was home at the time. The plane shattered windows in their family room, which is where his wife’s parents, who live with the couple, usually sit. “It’s a little bit unsettling,” he said. He said officials told him he couldn’t enter the home for at least 24 hours because NTSB needs to come to the site. More to Read.
