A kit plane flew into a McMinnville house on Oct. 28 and resulted in fatality for the pilot, though no one else was injured.

The crash occurred around 1:25 p.m. The woman who owns the home on 22nd Street received no injuries and neither did her pets. Even though she was only three feet from the site of impact when it occurred, according to the McMinnville News Register.

The homeowner has chosen to remain anonymous. The only damage besides the plane wreckage was to the roof and garage of the home.

When authorities arrived on the scene the pilot, 56-year-old Sheridan resident Charles W. Yochelson was pronounced dead.

The crash is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Association and the National Transport Safety Board.

Communications & Media Relations Manager and FAA Northwest Mountain & Alaska Regions Representative Allen Kenitzer said on Oct. 30 that the NTSB was taking the lead on investigating the cause or causes for the crash.

Kenitzer said that the NTSB posts a preliminary report on their website within a week or two of the accident, but it can take months to discover the probable cause of an accident.

“Accidents do happen, sometimes they are avoidable and sometimes not,” said Linfield junior and licensed pilot J.B. Lange. “I would guess that the pilot might have been having trouble with his landing gear but it’s unclear. The true cause may never be known.”

The plane was a Lancair brand, single-engine aircraft. The model is a Lancair 0-235 and is classified as experimental by the FAA.

The Lancair company website had no information about the crash as of Nov. 3.

Lange heard about the crash on Tuesday Oct. 29 early in the morning. Lange flies planes of similar size here in McMinnville although the planes he flies are structurally different from the kit plane involved in the accident.

“The difference is like buying a car from the dealership or buying the pieces of the car and assembling it yourself,” Lange said. “A kit plane is something you buy and make yourself.”

Olivia Marovich / News editor

Olivia Marovich can be reached at [email protected].