Six killed when small plane crashes, bursts into flames in field near Southern California airport

The charred remains of the Cessna near the landing approach at French Valley Airport, in Murrieta, California. Photo / AP

Six people were killed when a small plane crashed and caught fire in a field near a Southern California airport before dawn on Saturday, authorities said.

The crash of the Cessna C550 business jet occurred around 4.15am in Murrieta, about 130km southeast of Los Angeles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames, which had engulfed the plane and charred about 0.4ha of vegetation just north of French Valley Airport, said the Riverside County Fire Department.

All six people on board died at the scene, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The victims were not immediately identified.

The plane had departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, the FAA said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

It was the second fatal crash this week at the small county-owned airport in Murrieta, home to about 112,000 residents. A man was killed and three people were injured on July 4 when a single-engine Cessna 172 crashed in a parking lot shortly after takeoff from French Valley.