MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — Six people died after a plane crashed over a field in Southern California Saturday morning and subsequently burst into flames.
When emergency services arrived, the plane and about an acre of vegetation were on fire. The plane crashed near an airport in the city of Murrieta, California, in southwestern Riverside County, between Los Angeles and San Diego.
The flight had originally departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas before crashing into the field. KTLA reported. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the aircraft was a Cessna C550 business jet.
According to the Riverside County Fire Department, the six occupants of the plane were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after authorities found the plane on fire after 4:15 a.m. The identities of those killed in the crash have not been released.
Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the crash.
Saturday morning’s crash was the second fatal accident near French Valley Airport in Riverside County. One man was killed and three injured when a plane crashed into the side of a building at the airport on Tuesday.