Palo Alto Crash Kills Three Tesla Employees

February 18, 2010
Abram I. Bohrer

The crash of a Cessna 310 into a residential Palo Alto, CA neighborhood has claimed the lives of three employees of car maker Tesla Motors.

There were no other injuries after the plane landed on a home daycare center moments after taking off and skidded down the street, sparking several fires.

The plane took off at 7:55 a.m. in heavy fog and lost power shortly thereafter, said East Palo Alto police Capt. John Chalmers. It hit a power line or an electrical tower — which collapsed — about one mile northeast of the airport, shearing a wing that hit an occupied home in front of a daycare center in the 1200 block of Beech Street.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB are investigating.