LOS ANGELES – Six people were killed yesterday when their plane crashed near French Valley Airport in California, the second deadly crash in the area in the last four days, reported dpa.
The Cessna 550, a turbofan jet, crashed in a field and immediately burst into flames, according to a tweet posted by the California Forestry and Fire Protection Department and the Riverside County Fire Department.
All of the people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Coroner’s officials had not released the identities of the pilot or passengers as of yesterday afternoon.
The flight originated from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) aircraft tracking database lists the plane as belonging to Prestige Worldwide Flights of Imperial, California. Agents for the company could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Investigators with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board responded to the scene.
The NTSB’s media office released a statement saying the plane crashed on its second approach to the airstrip.
Yesterday morning, a layer of fog hung over the field where the wreckage lay, a short distance north of the runway.
The county-owned airport has no tower or air traffic control. Pilots can be guided to the airport on instruments but have to see the runway to land.
Yesterday’s crash came four days after one person was killed and three were injured when a plane struck the side of a building near French Valley Airport, authorities said.
In that crash, a single-engine Cessna 172 went down shortly after taking off from the airport, according to the county Fire Department. No one was hurt on the ground. – Bernama, July 9, 2023
