Six people onboard a business jet were killed when the plane crashed and burned early Saturday in Riverside County.
The Cessna C550 business jet crashed around 4 a.m. near French Valley Airport northeast of Murrieta. Six people on the plane were located and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
All six victims were adults, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Eliott Simpson said, adding that the aircraft was apparently privately owned.
The plane departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas around 3:15 a.m., with the flight lasting around 45 minutes, according to Simpson.
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Shortly before landing, he said, a marine layer began enveloping the area with low visibility. The pilot reported to air traffic control shortly before landing that he was going to preform a missed approach, which generally happens when a pilot can't see the runway environment and is instead referencing the instruments aboard the aircraft to land, Simpson added.
Air traffic control provided the pilot with a clearance to perform the missed approach, and cleared the airplane to return to landing, but the aircraft instead crashed about 500 feet short of the runway, leaving a debris field some 200 feet long, Simpson said.
Fire engulfed most of the plane, except for the tail. Firefighters put out a small brush fire that spread from the plane's wreckage.
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Simpson said it appeared the weather allowed for landing at the airport, "but it was right at the minimum."
Earlier this week, a student pilot died and three passengers were injured when a small plane crashed near the airport in southwestern Riverside County.
