6 Dead After Private Plane Crashes Into California Field, Bursts Into Flames

Six people were killed on Saturday after a private plane crashed near French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California, early Saturday morning, the authorities told CNN.

A Cessna C550 business jet was found engulfed in flames outside the French Valley Airport, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said. The six passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. The victims were Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, Riese Lenders, 25, Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, Lindsey Gleiche, 31, Alma Razick, 51 and Ibrahem Razick, 46, according to the sheriff's office.

The crash of the plane was reported around 4:15 am, the FAA said.

NBC News reported that 20 minutes before the crash, the National Weather Service published an observation that low clouds from the coast had moved into the Murrieta area, with the top of the clouds, or the cloud deck, standing at 300 feet, according to NWS meteorologist Brandt Maxwell.

Mr Maxwell said that the visibility was measured at 3/4 mile and the clouds were very low for aviation purposes.

Elliott Simpson, an N.T.S.B. investigator, said at a news conference on Saturday that a foggy marine layer of air mass began to envelop the area, causing low visibility shortly before the pilot planned to land.

The pilot told air traffic controllers that he was going to perform a missed approach procedure, which generally happens when a pilot cannot see the runway and tries to land again later, Mr Simpson said.

The plane crashed about 500 feet short of a runway after the pilot attempted an instrument landing approach, New York Times reported.

"It appears that the weather was at the minimums for landing at that airport, so the visibility and ceilings allowed for a landing - but it was right on the minimums," Mr Simpson said.

The crash occurred just days after another fatal plane crash in the area.