WRECKAGE—It’s unknown what caused a private plane to crash into a self-storage facility near the Camarillo Airport last Saturday. Courtesy Ventura County Fire Department Officials are continuing their investigation as to why a singleengine airplane lost power and crashed into a Camarillo selfstorage facility last Saturday, causing destruction to the plane and injury to the four people on board.

In flight from Chino, Calif. to the Camarillo Airport, the fixed-wing Beechcraft 35-B33 Debonair suddenly lost power just before its descent and crashed into Wells Cargo Self Storage behind the Camarillo Premium Outlets near the corner of Las Posas Road and Ventura Boulevard on April 9 around 1:30 p.m.

Nobody on the ground was injured.

Andres Serrano, a student pilot, was flying the plane when it lost power.

His instructor, Mun Dannayake, took control of the aircraft as it went down.

Serrano’ s wife, Ana, and friend Julisa Fallete were in the back seat of the aircraft.

Ana suffered serious injuries while the other three on board escaped with only minor scrapes and bruises, authorities said.

Andres Serrano is the pastor of a church in Corona, Calif.

Two of the injured were taken to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura and the other two to Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, said Bill Nash, a spokesman with the Ventura County Fire Department.

“The fact that everybody survived that crash is testament to the safety of the industry and the skill of the airplane instructor,” Nash said.

Joshua Cawthra, an aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Acorn the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB are searching for clues as to why the plane’s engine lost power.

The investigation is expected to last from six months to a year.

“We can’t speculate or draw conclusions right now because we’re in the initial stages of the investigation,” Cawthra said.

The plane, built in 1964, was recently inspected and is registered to Serrano’s church, according to the FAA.

About 50 firefighters, including specialists in hazardous materials and deputies from the Camarillo Police Department, responded to the emergency at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The first unit on scene was the crash truck from Fire Station No. 50, located near the Camarillo Airport on Las Posas Road.

The vehicle is specifically designed to fight aircraft fire with a large supply of water and extinguishing foam.

The people on board had enough time to safely exit the airplane before the 60 gallons of fuel that began leaking from the craft caught fire, Nash said.

An employee at the storage facility helped the four aboard jump down from the roof, and all were safely on the ground when emergency responders arrived, he said.

Cawthra said the fire consumed most of the airplane as well as several storage units.

The plane wreckage was transported to a secure location in the area, Cawthra said.

The investigator said he will travel to Camarillo next week to inspect the debris.

“(Our) No.1 mission is safety so we can ultimately prevent similar accidents from occurring,” Cawthra said. “From occurrences like this, we learn and hopefully we can prevent.”

Calls made to pilot Andres Serrano were not returned.