The scene of a deadly plane crash in Murrieta, California, July 8, 2023.
The crash occurred around 4:15 a.m. PT Saturday in Murrieta in Riverside County, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. On Sunday, the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office identified the six people killed as Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33; Riese Lenders, 25; Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32; Lindsey Gleiche, 31; Alma Razick, 51; and Ibrahem Razick, 46.
The Cessna C550 business jet had departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at about 3:15 a.m. PT and "crashed short of French Valley Airport during its second approach," the NTSB said based on preliminary information.The marine layer began to envelop the area with low ceilings and visibilities shortly before landing, according to NTSB investigator Elliott Simpson.
"The pilot reported to air traffic control that he was going to perform a missed approach, which generally happens when a pilot can't see the runway environment," Simpson told reporters during a press briefing Saturday. Air traffic control cleared the pilot to perform the public missed approach and then cleared the plane to return for landing again, he said. The aircraft crashed about 500 feet short of what investigators believe was the original intended landing runway, Simpson said.