3 injured after small plane crash near Enumclaw Airport

ENUMCLAW, Wash. — Three people were injured Thursday night after a small plane crashed near the Enumclaw Airport.

The crash happened before 9 p.m. The plane went down in a playground near Hamilton and 244th,  just short of the runway.

Neighbors rushed to help the three people in the plane. Katie Moninger is a nurse and reached through the windshield to stabilize the pilot's head.

>> PHOTOS: Small plane crashes in Enumclaw

"That's when I went to the windshield and found the man that was probably in the worst condition. I went through the windshield and held him so he could breathe," said Katie Moninger who lives across the street from where the plane crashed, just past the runway at Enumclaw Airport.

The three victims, two men and a woman, were all in critical condition. On Friday, their conditions improved at Harborview Medical Center one man was in serious condition in ICU another man was in serious condition and the woman was in satisfactory condition.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the single-engine Cessna 172 crashed under unknown circumstances near the Enumclaw Airport.

KIRO-7 contacted the FAA and found the plane was not properly registered and should not have been flown.

The plane is owned by Lorne Robbins of Buckley. Witnesses say he was piloting the plane at the time of the crash. His wife, Leslie, was seated in the back of the plane. His regular flight instructor was not with him, according to witnesses.  It is unknown if the other man in the front of the plane had his pilot license. Robbins is a student pilot.

Neighbors found barbed wire wrapped around the plane, which indicated it may have hit a fence.

The plane crashed into a park just past the end of the runway at Enumclaw Airport.

"It's usually a very busy park, especially being summertime," said Moninger, "It's very fortunate that nobody was actually in the park when it happened."

It is unknown if the plane was taking off or landing.

The plane was towed back to the Enumclaw Airport.  The FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash.

Cox Media Group