On Thursday, two tiny aircraft that were attempting to land at a municipal airfield in Northern California crashed with one another, and at least two of the three people on board were killed, according to the authorities.
According to a tweet that was sent by the mayor of Watsonville, the aircraft went down at the Watsonville Municipal Airport just before 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The airport that is under the jurisdiction of the city does not have a control tower that can guide aircraft that are landing or taking off.
According to the information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, there were two individuals travelling in a twin-engine Cessna 340 and only the pilot in a single-engine Cessna 152 when both aircraft were involved in the accident. According to the authorities, there were many people who lost their lives, although it was not immediately obvious if anybody survived.
According to a statement released by the FAA, the pilots were making their final approaches to the airport just before to the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are looking into the collision, but they did not immediately have any other data.
On the ground, nobody sustained any injuries. According to the website for the airport, it has four runways and can accommodate more than 300 different types of aircraft. In a given year, it is responsible for more than 55,000 operations and is often used by recreational aircraft and agricultural companies.
About 100 miles (160 kilometres) to the south of San Francisco is where you’ll find Watsonville, which is located near Monterey Bay.
The remains of one tiny aircraft could be seen lying in a grassy area close to the airport in photos and videos that were shared on social media. One of the pictures depicted a column of smoke that could be seen from a street that was located close to the airport.
Damage was done to a small facility at the airport, and a picture released by the city of Watsonville revealed that firemen were already on the scene.
According to a witness who spoke to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the aircraft were flying at an altitude of around 200 feet (61 metres) when they crashed.
Franky Herrera was driving by the airport when he observed the twin-engine jet turn sharply to the right and strike the wing of the smaller aircraft. He told the newspaper that the smaller plane “simply spiralled down and crashed” on the edge of the runway and not far from residences.
Herrera said that the twin-engine aircraft continued to fly, despite the fact that “it was struggling,” and then he observed flames on the other side of the airport.
In the hours that immediately followed the accident, the manager of the Watsonville Municipal Airport could not be reached by phone for an interview. According to the website for the City of Watsonville, the airport is responsible for around forty percent of all of the general aviation activity in the Monterey Bay region.
The Watsonville Police Department sent callers to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, however the dispatcher at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office did not have any information.
On Thursday, there were many planes that went down around the state of California, injuring four people total.
Authorities said that a man from San Diego, 65 years old, was flying a single-engine aircraft that crashed in El Cajon on a street close to a busy highway bridge. The guy suffered serious injuries, but his injuries did not pose a danger to his life.
It was stated that the jet collided with an SUV, but nobody on the ground was injured in the city located around 32 kilometres and almost 20 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.
After then, an ultralight aircraft fell upside down on a building at the Camarillo Airport in Ventura County, roughly 60 miles (97 kilometres) from the centre of Los Angeles. The pilot of the ultralight aircraft suffered grave injuries as a result of the accident.
