Jet Makes ‘Unsurvivable Crash’ During Landing at Calif. Airport
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iStock/Thinkstock(SANTA MONICA, Calif.) — A small, private jet crashed into a storage hanger as it was landing at a California airport Sunday night, setting off a huge fire that sent clouds of black smoke into the air.
It is still not clear how many people were aboard the Cessna Citation, which can carry eight passengers.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the twin-engine aircraft departed from Hailey, Idaho, and went off the runway at Santa Monica Airport at 6:20 p.m. local time.
When firefigthers arrived at the scene, they said the hanger was collapsing.
“When we got there the whole hanger that the plane went into was completely involved and full of flames. This was an unsurvivable crash,” said Capt. John Nevrando of the Santa Monica Fire Department.
Investigators say they are going to have to bring in some heavy equipment to lift the wreckage of the storage hanger off the airplane before they can determine how many people were on board.
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board is now at the scene.
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