Photo credit: Twitter / @mvgmom
A Cessna Citation II private jet crashed before dawn on Saturday morning in Southern California after performing a go-around in foggy conditions, killing all six people on board. Authorities said the aircraft was fully engulfed in flames in a field when they arrived. The Citation crashed after 4 a.m., about 500 feet short of the runway at French Valley Airport (F70) in Riverside County, California.
The aircraft, registration N819KR, is owned by Prestige Worldwide Flights LLC, based in Imperial, California. The flight originated at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.
The NTSB said in a press briefing on Saturday that the flight crew informed the air traffic control tower at the airport that they were going to attempt a missed approach and that the low cloud ceiling and visibility were near the minimums for landing at the airport.
All of the victims were from Southern California, including the pilots, identified by local media as 25-year-old Riese Lenders and 32-year-old Manuel Vargas-Regalado of Temecula, as well as his wife 33-year-old Abigail Tellez-Vargas and passengers 46-year-old Ibrahem Razick and his wife Alma Razick, 51, and 31-year-old Lindsey Gleiche.
The crash came less than a week after a Cessna 172 crashed at the same airport on July 4 on takeoff, killing one and injuring several others.
The NTSB and FAA are investigating both incidents that, to be clear, have no indication of being related.
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