Three children unaccounted for after plane crash

GEARHART, Ore. - Three people were injured and three children were unaccounted for after a single-engine plane crashed into a house in the coastal town of Gearhart Monday morning, leading to a fire that engulfed the home.  

The fate of the pilot was unknown, and it was not clear whether anyone else was on board. A mother and two children were flown by helicopter to Portland hospitals.

The crash took place just before 7 a.m. near Third Street and Marion in Gearhart. The home was occupied by a family on vacation at the time of the crash. The plane involved is reportedly a Cessna 172.

Lightweight private passenger aircraft regularly fly up and down the coastline. The plane that crashed reportedly had flown out of Seaside, which is just south of Gearhart.

Witnesses said it appears the plane was having difficulties flying prior to the crash and hit a tree before hitting the house.

An explosion followed about 20 seconds later.

The home the plane hit was almost totally destroyed, according to witnesses at the scene, who said the roof of the home was knocked into the street.

Another home next door was burned on one side.

Tourist magazine editor Rebecca Herren lives about a block and a half from the crash site and said she was in bed between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

"I heard the plane above and thought, 'Gosh, it's awfully low and awfully early, for one thing,' " she said,

The explosion shook her house and was followed by two smaller explosions, she said. The city said homes were rocked for up to a half mile away.

Part of a golf course separates her house from the crash site, Herren said, and on a clear day she would be able to see it.

"Because it was so foggy, I couldn't see any smoke plumes," she said. "Then I heard the sirens start."

Investigators were trying to determine why the plane crashed.

Gearhart has a population of about 1,100 and is located on the northern Oregon coast between Seaside and Astoria.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report