5 dead in small plane crash

By Web Staff

Santa Ana, CA (KTLA) -- Officials on Monday identified five people killed after the small plane they were on the day before crashed in a Santa Ana parking lot.

Authorities said the Cessna 414 aircraft—registered to a San Francisco real estate firm—went down at 12:28 p.m. on Sunday at the parking lot of a Staples store in the 3900 block of Bristol Street, about two miles away from its destination, John Wayne Airport.

The plane left the Buchanan Field Airport in Concord at 10:23 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at the Santa Ana airport at 12:30 p.m., according to FlightAware.com.

The victims include Navid Hakimi, 32, of Los Angeles; Floria Hakimi, 62, of Danville; Nasim Ghanadan, 29, of Alamo; Scott Shepherd, 53, and Lara Shepherd, 42, both of Diablo, according to the Orange County Coroner.

Scott Shepherd piloted the plane, the coroner said. Public records show he lived in the same household as Lara Shepherd.

The same address was also listed for Floria and Navid Hakimi. Social media posts suggest they were mother and son.

Ghanadan worked as a real estate consultant who lived in the Bay Area.

There were no other passengers in the plane, and nobody on the ground was hurt. The driver of a vehicle struck by the aircraft was shopping inside Staples at the time, according to O.C. Fire Authority.

"I was working and I hear a loud thud," said Christian Tornero, who worked at a store in the area. "I thought it was like a semitruck that just tipped over or something."

A woman shopping nearby said it sounded like a truck was running something over—until she saw the plane.

"There was just nothing left and you could smell the gas," Kathy Hayden said.

According to O.C. Fire Authority, a group of firefighters having lunch across the street jumped on their truck and rushed to the scene after one of them heard screaming.

"And somebody — one of the patients — yelled, and they looked up and saw the plane coming down towards the parking lot," agency spokesman Steve Concialdi said.

All five victims were declared dead at the scene, according to O.C. Fire Authority.

The mangled aircraft remained at the parking lot on Monday morning as officials worked on determining the cause of the crash.

KTLA's Alexandria Hernandez contributed to this story.