Small Plane Crashes Onto Santa Ana Freeway

A small plane crashed on the southbound 405 Freeway near John Wayne Airport on Friday morning, leaving two people injured, sending smoke billowing above Orange County and forcing the closure of the freeway for several hours. About 9:35 a.m., the twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed on the southbound 405, just shy of the runway. Two people were on board at the time, John Wayne Airport Director Barry Rondinella said at an early afternoon news conference. The occupants, a man and woman in their late 50s to early 60s, were removed from the fiery wreckage by an off-duty firefighter from Avalon on Catalina Island; both have been hospitalized with traumatic injuries, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz.