A small plane carrying three people slammed down into traffic on one of San Jose’s busiest streets Saturday afternoon, leaving everyone aboard and on the ground with only non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash occurred just after 3 p.m. at the intersection of Capitol Expressway and Excalibur Drive, blocking traffic and forcing the Alum Rock Avenue off-ramp from Highway 680 to briefly shut down.
Emergency responders confirmed that two adults and a child were inside the aircraft when it went down, ending up nose-down and tail-up in the middle of the road.
No one on the ground was injured, and all three occupants escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses in the neighborhood expressed shock at finding a plane crash-landed just yards away from their homes.
“It’s a close call, it’s a close call,” said Ricardo Barlaan of San Jose.
Andrew Vasquez, another witness, recalled hearing the impact. Describing the moment, he made a crashing sound and said, “Boom.”
“It’s crazy, I’m flabbergasted,” Vasquez said. “At first I thought it was some kind of stunt or they were making a movie or something.”
Joe Lopez, who has lived in the neighborhood for 60 years, noted that while there have been past crashes involving planes flying out of nearby Reid-Hillview Airport, he had never seen an aircraft come down this close to his house.
“It’s a good thing the navigator landed where he did,” Lopez said.
The plane’s tail number indicates it is registered to the Flying Twenty, 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 about the club, the pilot 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 reminder of a crash that started with a mayday and ended with what emergency personnel called a miraculous survival story.
