Plane crash in Oregon leaves thousands without power

A small plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in Fairview, Oregon, on Saturday morning, with reports that several people are missing and thousands of residents left without power as a result.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that a twin-engine Cessna 421C came down around 10.30am local time near the Troutdale Airport, and that it did not know how many people were on board.

“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” the agency said in a statement. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.”

“Around 10.20am today, a small general aviation aircraft crashed near the Troutdale Airport,” the port of Portland said in a statement shared by local news. “Port of Portland Fire has sent a crash vehicle and battalion chief for support at the scene.”

The Multnomah county sheriff’s office posted to X that it was responding to the scene. John Plock, a public information officer from the sheriff’s office, later gave a news conference where he said the initial call came at 10.20am local time reporting black smoke.

“At some point during the crash, it hit a power pole or tower, causing it to fall over. The aircraft crashed into a building of townhomes and that structure also caught fire,” Plock said, according to KATU.

The plane was split into multiple parts as it crashed in the residential area in the city of Fairview, AP reported. Troutdale airport is described on the Port of Portland’s website as a “flight training and recreational airport”.

Two people were onboard the aircraft and one resident is missing, KPTV reported, citing Scott Lewis, the Gresham fire chief. At least five families have been displaced by the fire, it said. No deaths have been confirmed.

The full extent of the damage and injuries is not yet clear, but images and videos on social media showed a plume of smoke above the site, with one user writing that “lots of customers now without power”.

According to the US power outage site, 13,921 Portland General Electric customers in Multnomah county were without electricity.

A social media user claimed the plane crashed into a residential building, and that firefighters were searching for victims.