A weekend flight ended in tragedy Saturday afternoon on a high bluff overlooking the San Joaquin River. Eady, a local mother, and her two young sons died on impact when their small plane hit the ground and burst into flames in northwest Fresno.
Her husband, Craig, survived the initial crash but suffered critical injuries. Paramedics rushed him to a local trauma center, where he remains hospitalized in intensive care. The couple’s two older children, a 17-year-old son and a 19-year-old daughter, were not on the flight and are now dealing with the sudden loss of their family.
Emergency calls started coming in at around 1:50 p.m. near Blythe Avenue, just down the road from Sierra Sky Park Airport. Witnesses reported seeing smoke rising from the river bluff shortly after the aircraft went down.
Firefighters from Fresno Fire and North Central Fire arrived to find the plane fully engulfed in fire. Crews scrambled up the steep terrain with fire lines, working quickly to put out the burning wreckage before the flames could spread into dry brush and reach nearby neighborhood homes.
The force of the crash knocked out electricity to several surrounding streets. Pacific Gas and Electric crews arrived on the scene shortly after to fix damaged lines and restored power to nearby residents later that afternoon.
Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office locked down the crash site by late afternoon. Officers stretched yellow crime tape around the bluff to protect all physical evidence until federal aviation authorities could get to the scene.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have taken charge of the inquiry. Federal officials are combing through the wreckage to figure out what caused the plane to lose control, while friends and relatives ask the community to keep the surviving children in their thoughts.
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