At least six people were on board a small plane when it crashed in California early Saturday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to CBS News.
The Cessna C550 business jet crashed at around 4:15 am local time near the French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California in Riverside County. The craft was “down in a field” and “fully involved in fire,” the Riverside County Fire Department tweeted on Saturday. The fire burned “approximately one acre of vegetation” and was contained at about 5:35 am
Officials did not provide information about the passengers’ conditions. CBS News has reached out to local officials for updates.
The plane took off from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating and will provide updates.
This is the second crash in the area in less than a week. CBS Los Angeles reported that another Cessna crashed near the French Valley airport shortly before 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon. One person was killed and three were injured. The person who died was 39-year-old Temecula resident Jared Newman, the father of the three surviving passengers, according to CBS Los Angeles. He was reportedly operating the aircraft under a training license, which is prohibited by federal regulations.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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