California midair plane collision leaves three dead

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Three people were killed Thursday in a midair collision between two planes attempting to land at an airport, authorities said Friday. 

The crash occurred just before 3 p.m. at the Watsonville Municipal Airport, about 90 miles south of San Francisco. A single-engine Cessna 152 with one person aboard and a twin-engine Cessna 340 with two people aboard collided as both planes were on their final approaches to the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News on Thursday. 

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office on Friday confirmed that all three people involved had died. Their identities have not been released. 

NORTH CAROLINA CO-PILOT WHO JUMPED FROM PLANE UPSET ABOUT HARD LANDING: NTSB

Two planes collided in the air at an airport in Watsonville, California, killing three people involved, authorities said Friday.  (City of Watsonville )

"We are grieving tonight from this unexpected and sudden loss," said Watsonville Mayor Ari Parker posted Thursday on social media. "I want to express my deepest and most heartfelt condolences."

William Armstrong, who was trying to land his plane nearby, told Fox San Francisco that he had to go to a nearby airport and catch a ride back to Watsonville to get his car. He considers the airport to be safe despite a few accidents there over the past 15 years. 

"Midair collisions, they’re very uncommon but they are more common right next to the airport because all the airplanes are converging on one point," he said.

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The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the crash, which also damaged a hangar at the airport.