Six people killed in the crash of Cessna 550 were apparently heading home on an early morning flight from Las Vegas on Saturday. CBS is reporting all six, ranging in age from 25 to 51, were from the immediate area of Murrieta, California. Authorities told CBS the aircraft was on its second attempt to land at French Valley Airport at 4:15 a.m. when it crashed about 500 feet from the runway and caught fire. All the victims died at the scene.
The plane had left Harry Reid International Airport an hour earlier. There were two pilots onboard: Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes and Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, of Temecula. The airport has a single 6,000-foot runway (18/36) with an RNAV approach for Runway 18. The aircraft ended up short of the threshold and the crash ignited a brush fire.
