Plane slams Richmond high-rise
A small airplane crashed into the side of a high-rise residential building in the centre of downtown Richmond late yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses described the sight as terrifying enough to bring back memories of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The crash happened at about 4:15 p.m. at 8279 Saba Rd.—an older salmon-coloured high-rise building south of the Richmond Public Market.
“I just finished work and my buddy, who has lots of experience with planes, said ‘That plane is flying pretty low,’” said Edward Bourdages.
The buddies looked up to see a small aircraft—Bourdages wasn’t sure what it was—careening toward the building.
“It did a quick turn to the right and boom. I just saw the smoke, that’s it.”
Bourdages said the plane was heading full speed into the building
Other witnesses said they expected the plane to bank up, but it never did.
From the ground, it appeared the building had little in the way of physical damage, as the plane seemed to have landed inside an enclosed patio and fallen to the ground.
Reports said the pilot may have survived the crash.
A witness on No. 3 Road saw the plane coming down, she expected that it would bank up but it never did.
Money Lalli was in the building at the time, at the Lang Centre in the ground floor, and said she heard an explosion.
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