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6/15/2007, 1:15 p.m. PT
By SARAH SKIDMORE
The Associated Press

Two believed dead as small plane crashes in Portland back yard


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) A small plane crashed in the wooded back yard of a
southwest Portland home
Friday morning, killing the people aboard authorities said.

Portland Fire Lt. Allen Oswalt said based on an initial inspection of the
site, two people are
assumed dead. The victims' identities were not released.

No one in the hilly wooded neighborhood near the border between Portland and
Lake Oswego was injured.

The cause of the crash was not known. But officials said the impact left a
crater in the yard about
3 feet deep and 15 feet wide. Debris was scattered around the area and into
the street.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety
Board are handling
the investigation.

The FAA said the Lancair IV plane took off from the Hillsboro Airport at
8:54 a.m. and was
headed toward Twin Falls, Idaho, and crashed around 9 a.m.

The Redmond-based manufacturer, Lancair, said the four-seat plane is worth
an estimated $700,000
and was up for sale. FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the registered owner is
William C. Shepard
of Idleyld Park, in Douglas County, Ore., but it is not known if he was
aboard.

Tim Ong, general manager at Lancair, said the plane was one of the world's
fastest single-engine aircraft.

Homeowner Tom Schwartz was at his roofing company when the plane went down
in his back yard.
He said his wife, Erin, was at home and described the sound as "deafening."
Initially, she thought a car had hit the house and looked first in the front
yard, where she saw nothing,
he said. When she checked the back, she saw a part of the plane and smelled
smoke and fuel.

Several neighbors in the area, which is located near Jackson Middle School
and Lewis & Clark College,
described the noise as like a loud motorcycle's.

Angie Kubin, 24, said it was "like nothing I've ever heard before in my
life."
Officials closed off the area and said access is expected to be limited for
at least a day.
The FAA said it was not immediately known where the experimental Lancair
plane was headed.


Al G