Weather worsened before Southern California plane crash that killed 6, NTSB says

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Multiple people killed in Southern California plane crash

Six people died in a jet crash near the French Valley Airport in California Saturday morning. Credit: KCBS

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on Wednesday that weather in Southern California had rapidly worsened ahead of a July 8 plane crash that lead to the deaths of all six people on board. 

Federal investigators said that the Cessna 550 business jet was destroyed in an early morning accident near Murrieta, where it hit the ground short of the runway threshold at French Valley Airport and stopped about 100 feet past the initial impact point before catching fire. 

The blaze consumed most of the fuselage, and all major structural components of the aircraft were located within the 400-foot-long wreckage debris path. 

The report said the airport's automated weather observing system had recorded clear skies and visibility of 10 miles less than an hour before the incident. However, just 20 minutes later, the reported weather was "an overcast ceiling at 300 feet" and visibility was down to three-quarters of a mile.

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Six people died after a jet crash near the French Valley Airport in Southern California on July 8, 2023. (KCBS)

The board said visibility was just a half-mile in fog around the time of the crash.

The plane was making a second attempt to land after a missed approach – something that usually happens when pilots cannot see the runway. 

Air traffic controllers gave permission for the second attempt.

The NTSB has not yet determined a cause for the crash.

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The two crew members and four passengers were returning from a short trip to Las Vegas. 

Local authorities have identified the pilots as Riese Lenders, 25, and Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32; and the passengers as Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, Lindsey Gleich, 31, Alma Razick, 51, and Ibrahem Razick, 46.

All six victims were pronounced dead at the scene, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.

A map shared by CAL FIRE and the Riverside County Fire Department marking the site of the Cessna business jet crash early July 8, 2023. (CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department)

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The crash also caused a fire in a field in the surrounding area, which was contained to one acre.

Murrieta is about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Fox News' Greg Wehner, Timothy Nerozzi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.