Authorities reported that six people died after the plane they were traveling in crashed early Saturday morning in California.
Aircraft Emergency:rpt@4:16 a.m. Auld Road X Briggs Road in French Valley. Cessna aircraft down in a field, fully involved in fire. The fire burned approximately one acre of vegetation, was contained at 5:35 a.m. and the incident has been turned over to RSO and the FAA. Please… pic.twitter.com/szG5HLH4n7
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) July 8, 2023
A Cessna C550 commercial airliner crashed at approximately 4:15 a.m. m. local time near the French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California, in Riverside County. The plane was “down in a field” and “fully involved in a fire,” the Riverside County Fire Department tweeted Saturday. Around 5:35 a.m., the fire was put out after “about an acre of vegetation” had been consumed.
All six passengers were confirmed dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. The identity of the passengers is unknown.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane took off from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
In less than a week, there have been two accidents in the region. On Tuesday afternoon, just before 2:00 p.m. m., another Cessna crashed near French Valley Airfield, according to CBS Los Angeles. Three people were injured and one died. According to CBS Los Angeles, the deceased was Jared Newman, a 39-year-old Temecula resident and father of the three surviving passengers. He was reportedly flying the plane on a training license, which is illegal in the United States.