A small plane carrying three people plunged into traffic on one of San Jose’s busiest streets Saturday afternoon, leaving everyone on board and on the ground with only non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash occurred just before 3:10 p.m. at the intersection of Capitol Expressway and Excalibur Drive, blocking traffic, causing a small fuel spill that crews quickly absorbed and forcing the Alum Rock Avenue off-ramp of Highway 680 to briefly close.
San Jose Fire Department rescuers confirmed that two adults and a child were inside the plane — identified by Federal Aviation Administration records as a 1968 Cessna 177A Cardinal — when it crashed, ending up nose-down and tail-up in the middle of the road.
The three occupants were taken to hospital out of an abundance of caution. No vehicles or people on the ground were struck or injured.
Witnesses from the neighborhood expressed their shock to discover that a plane had crashed a few meters from their home.
“It’s a close game, it’s a close game,” San Jose’s Ricardo Barlaan said.
Andrew Vasquez, another witness, remembers hearing the impact. Describing the moment, he made a crashing noise and said: “Boom.”
“It’s crazy, I’m stunned,” Vasquez said. “At first I thought it was some kind of set-up or they were making a movie or something.”
Joe Lopez, who has lived in the neighborhood for 60 years, pointed out that while there have been previous incidents involving planes taking off from the nearby Reid-Hillview Airport, he had never seen a plane crash so close to his house.
“It’s a good thing the navigator landed where he landed,” Lopez said.
The plane’s tail number indicates it is registered to Flying Twenty Inc., a nonprofit flight club for San Jose State University students, alumni and faculty.
According to the club’s website, they operate out of Reid-Hillview Airport. A club member reached by phone declined to comment on the organization, the pilot project or what happened.
It took about three hours before the wreckage was cleared from the intersection, carried away on a flatbed truck with a police escort — leaving a crumpled memory of an accident that began as a mayday and ended with what emergency personnel called a story of miraculous survival.
Saturday’s incident highlights ongoing local safety concerns, marking the latest in a series of off-airport plane crashes linked to the East San Jose facility. According to National Transportation Safety Board records and published news reports, several similar off-airport accidents have occurred over the decades:
February 24, 2002: A Piper PA-24-250 lost engine power due to fuel starvation while approaching Reid-Hillview Airport, forcing the pilot to make an emergency street landing about two miles away, where he collided with a car. The NTSB attributed the accident to inadequate flight planning and improper fuel consumption calculations. No injuries were reported.
November 19, 2017: CBS reported that a Cessna 172P suffered a partial loss of engine power after taking off from Reid-Hillview Airport and crashed into a garage on Evelyn Avenue, approximately 300 yards northwest of the property. Although no one inside the residence was injured, the pilot suffered minor injuries and two passengers were seriously injured.
June 29: A small experimental gyrocopter with two people on board crashed just outside Reid-Hillview Airport near the Eastridge Mall. One occupant was hospitalized with moderate injuries, while the other was evaluated at the scene for minor injuries, according to a report from Newsbreak.
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