One Killed as Plane Crashes Into Houses : Air tragedy: Victim is believed to be the pilot. Five structures were hit in Monterey Park but nobody on the ground was injured.

One man died Saturday after a small plane fell from the sky over a hilly Monterey Park neighborhood, striking four houses and then smashing into the kitchen and bathroom of a first-floor apartment, authorities said.

The victim was believed to be the pilot of the Piper 28 aircraft, which crashed shortly before 7 p.m. and left hundreds of pieces of debris along the 1000 block of Sunrise Drive, Monterey Park police said. The man’s name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

“The plane virtually disintegrated,” said Deputy Police Chief Dan Cross.

There were no injuries to anyone on the ground, including residents of the apartment at 1050 College View Drive, where the bulk of the wreckage landed, Sgt. Jess Alvarado said.

Eyewitnesses said the plane had been circling for several minutes over the neighborhood, which is two blocks north of East Los Angeles College.

“I saw the plane coming down way too sharp and I said to myself, ‘This guy isn’t going to pull out,’ ” said area resident Cheryl Falcon, 26, who works as a police and fire dispatcher in Hermosa Beach. “Then it crashed. It sounded like a big thud.”

Fanie Bernardo, 29, said she she looked up and saw the plane hit the roof of one house and then the roof of her house before crashing.

“All of a sudden, bang,” Bernardo said. “The windows in the back of the house were busted. I couldn’t even call 911 because it cut the telephone lines on the way down.”

A piece of the plane’s wing remained on Bernardo’s front lawn as investigators collected plastic bags of debris from the plane.

Gerson Montes, 17, said he was out for a walk with a friend when he noticed the plane circling.

“I don’t know if it was doing tricks or out of control,” Montes said. “But it made a hard left bank and went down.”

John Arredondo, a Times employee who lives nearby, said “the plane circled about three times. Then, all of a sudden, it took a dive toward the college.

“When I got over there, I had a fire extinguisher ready, but there was no fire. The wing was lying near an apartment house. Other pieces of plane were on top of a car. Police officers were there already.”