Citation Crash Kills Six in California

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating after a 1979 Cessna Citation II crashed on approach to French Valley Airport (F70) in Murrieta, California, on July 8, killing all aboard. The aircraft came down 500 feet short of 6,000-foot Runway 18 at 4:15 a.m. local time while flying a second non-precision RNAV (GPS) instrument approach with vertical guidance into the non-towered airport in conditions described by local law enforcement as “heavy fog.” 

According to the National Weather Service, F70 weather at the time of the accident was half-mile visibility in fog and 300-foot overcast.

The post-crash fire that consumed the wreckage ignited a brush fire that took an hour to extinguish. The flight originated at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at 3:16 a.m. local time. The aircraft was registered to Prestige Worldwide Flights of Imperial, California, and it had arrived in Las Vegas from F70 at 10:04 p.m. on Friday.

According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which identified the pilots flying, and FAA records, both pilots held commercial certificates and were type-rated in the Citation with a second-in-command pilot required.