Three Bay Area Residents ID'd in Deadly Plane Crash

RIVERSIDE, CA - A group of people who died in a tragic plane crash this week in Riverside has been identified. The three were all from the Bay Area.

The plane crashed around 4:40 p.m. Monday, shortly after takeoff from Riverside Municipal Airport. The group was headed home to San Jose, officials said.

According to the Riverside County coroner's office, Adine Farelas, 22, along with Nouri Hijazi, 83, and his wife, Dana Hijazi, 67 – all of San Jose – perished when the Cessna 310Q crashed in the 6400 block of Rhonda Road, just a half-mile east of the airport, causing a fire that destroyed two homes.

Two women survived the wreck.

All on board were in Southern California for a cheerleading conference at Disneyland attended by Adine Farelas' younger sister, according Peppertree Schools of Los Gatos co-owner Danna Osborn. Farelas had worked at the pre-school until last fall. She is pictured in this article.

"The community has lost a really wonderful gal," Osborn said.

Farelas' Facebook page was overflowing with remembrances and parting messages from those close to her, including her younger brother, Brandon Farelas, who noted that his mother, Silvia, had survived the crash and was recovering.

A message posted by Farelas herself, just days before the accident, relayed the excitement she had about being in town with her friends.

A GoFundMe account has since been set up for the Farelas family. You can donate to the campaign here.

The other survivor, Stacey Pierce, remains in critical condition, according to published reports. Her father, Nouri Hijazi, was piloting the aircraft. Both he and his wife died just minutes after the crash, coroner's reports indicate.

A GoFundMe account has also been established to help the Pierce family in this tragedy. You can donate here.

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, but they have yet to release preliminary findings about the deadly wreck.

The 42-year-old aircraft was registered to Hijazi, bearing the tail number N1246G. The plane had a valid airworthiness certificate, according to the FAA. The agency's records indicated that Hijazi held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine rating, meaning he could fly commercially. He was also a certified flight instructor with an instrument rating and had received his last flight medical exam on Oct. 18. He passed the physical.

Currently the airplane is "in quite a few pieces" spread over 100 or 150 feet, NTSB investigator Stephen Stein said at a news conference Tuesday.

Stein said a preliminary report would be posted sometime between this Sunday and March 10, but that the fact-gathering phase would take between 15 and 18 months. Once completed, that information, including a
public docket, will be posted online.

The investigation encompasses information about the pilot's flight records and experience, the airplane itself and weather and lighting conditions at the time of the crash, Stein said.

Once the final report is released in late 2018, NTSB analysts will make safety recommendations if any systematic deficiencies are found.

Riverside officials also held a news briefing Tuesday, to describe how first responders handled the crash.

"The plane struck the right front corner of the house," Riverside Fire Department Capt. Tyler Reynolds told reporters. "The victims were ejected."

More than 60 firefighters converged on the location within minutes, pulling one woman out of a bedroom and another out of the front yard, as flames raged inside the home that was struck. A neighboring single-story residence also caught fire. Neither house was occupied at the time.

Reynolds said three aboard the Cessna 310 were pronounced dead at the scene.

One of the survivors suffered extensive burns and was admitted for treatment at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, Reynolds said. The exact injuries to the second survivor, who was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, were not known.

The fire, fueled by hundreds of pounds of aviation gasoline, charred an entire residence and most of the adjacent one. Two other homes also sustained damage but were completely intact, according to the fire captain.

The entire block of about 40 homes was evacuated, but most residents had returned Tuesday. Nine people were displaced as a result of the fire. A few were assisted by the American Red Cross, while others received help from immediate and extended family, according to Reynolds.

– City News Service and Bay City News Service contributed to this report / Image via GoFundMe.