Six individuals died Saturday morning when a plane crashed and burst into flames in a field in Murrieta, California.
The incident occurred near a local airport in the city, situated in southwest Riverside County between Los Angeles and San Diego.
A jet carrying six people crashed near French Valley Airport in Murrieta early Saturday morning, marking the second deadly incident at the airstrip in one week.https://t.co/XQFuRgtn6s
— KTLA (@KTLA) July 8, 2023
The aircraft, identified as a Cessna C550 business jet by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had initially departed from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, according to KTLA. The plane crashed into the field, resulting in the immediate death of all six occupants. A small brush fire ignited at the scene of the crash, which responders were able to extinguish in one hour, the Riverside County Fire Department said. (RELATED: Five Killed In North Myrtle Beach Plane Crash)
The Riverside County Fire Department pronounced the victims dead at the scene shortly after 4:15 a.m. Their identities were reported Sunday.
The area was reportedly blanketed with heavy fog Saturday morning, a possible cause for the aircraft to miss the runway by several hundred yards, according to KTLA.
The crash has prompted investigations by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration to determine the cause of the incident.
This event marks the second fatal crash near the French Valley Airport in Riverside County. Earlier in the week, a plane collided with a building near the airport, resulting in the death of one person and injuring three others.