A civilian aircraft crashed and burst into flames Saturday in hilly terrain on base at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar killing the pilot and passenger, officials said.
The Piper Comanche crashed at 10:55 a.m. on military property three miles north of Route 52 and east of Interstate 15.
The pilot of a police helicopter that flew over the scene says the plane was in pieces.
“It was totally destroyed on impact,” officer Phil Cady said.
The crash caused a fire in a hilly area but it was quickly contained.
“It was a very small fire it didn’t spread past the wreckage,” Cady said.
The plane took off from Whiteman Airport in Pacoima and was traveling to Brown Field, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Ian Gregor.
Local
The plane is registered to a resident from Burbank.
No other aircraft were involved and the cause of the crash was not immediately known but someone may have seen what happened.
“There may have been a witness that saw the plane go down from a nearby bike path,” Cady said.
The pilot did not make a distress call.
