6 Dead After Private Plane Crashes in California

The crash was the second to occur near French Valley Airport in the past week, and is currently under investigation

Six people were killed in a Southern California plane crash on Saturday.

A Cessna C550 business jet crashed into a Murrieta field near French Valley Airport when "heavy fog blanketed the area," creating low-visibility conditions as it attempted to land, local news station KTLA reported. It missed the runway “by several hundred yards.”

The private aircraft made impact in the early morning, according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies responded to the Murrieta field crash site around 4:15 a.m., per the release. When they arrived, the jet was completely engulfed in flames.

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Six victims were located and pronounced dead at the scene, the release stated.

The Riverside County Coroner's Office identified the individuals as Alma Razick, 51, Ibrahem Razick, 46, Lindsey Gleiche, 31, Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, and Riese Lenders, 25.

The 45-minute flight departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, KTLA reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board, who is investigating the crash in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, told the California news outlet that the jet was flown by a certified commercial pilot.

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The pilot informed air traffic control that he would be performing a “missed approach” (a procedure that generally occurs when runways are not visible), the NTSB explained at a press conference on Saturday, per KTLA.

When heavy fog (like the conditions observed on Saturday morning) blankets Murrieta, it is "almost like a whiteout if you’re in the hills,” Patrick O’Neil, a manager of a local plant nursery told the outlet.

“You couldn’t see probably two to five feet in front of you," the California man told KTLA, adding that "it’s almost like you’re driving blindfolded.”

A small fire erupted in the field as a result of the crash, but firefighters were able to extinguish it after about an hour, the Riverside County Fire Department shared in a tweet. It burned approximately one acre of vegetation, the department said.

Related: 1 Dead, 3 Injured After Small Plane Crashes into Side of Southern California Building

French Valley Airport will remain closed for an unspecified amount of time while the crash investigation is underway, Angela Jamison, a manager at the airport, confirmed to ABC News. A preliminary report on the investigation will be published in about two weeks.

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The incident was the second of two crashes that occurred near the Riverside County airport this week.

On Tuesday, a California man named Jared Newman was piloting a private aircraft when it crashed near the airport. The 39-year-old had just became a certified pilot last month, NTSB informed PEOPLE.

Newman was pronounced dead at the scene. The other three passengers, his sons Connor, Caleb and Elijah, all "miraculously" survived and are currently in stable condition, a GoFundMe campaign for the family stated.

It is too early to tell if the Fourth of July incident — which is also being investigated by the NTSB and FAA — is linked to the Saturday morning crash, NTSB investigator Elliott Simpson told ABC News.

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