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Two planes collided in California Thursday killing at least two people. : NPR


This photo provided by KION-TV shows multiple agencies landing at Watsonville Municipal Airport, northwest of Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, California after two planes trying to land collide on Thursday. (KION-TV via AP)

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This photo provided by KION-TV shows multiple agencies landing at Watsonville Municipal Airport, northwest of Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, California after two planes trying to land collide on Thursday. (KION-TV via AP)

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Two planes collided in Northern California while attempting to land at a local airport Thursday and at least two of the three occupants were killed, officials said.

The collision happened at Watsonville Municipal Airport just before 3 p.m., according to a tweet from the city of Watsonville. The city-owned airport does not have a control tower to direct planes to land and take off.

There were two people on board the twin-engine Cessna 340 and only the pilot in the single-engine Cessna 152 in the crash, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials say many deaths have been reported but it is unclear if there are any immediate survivors.

The FAA said the pilots were approaching the final airport when the collision occurred. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, which have no additional details at this time, are investigating the crash.

No one on the ground was injured. The airport has four runways and is home to more than 300 planes, according to the airline’s website. It handles more than 55,000 operations per year and is commonly used for recreational aircraft and agricultural businesses.

Watsonville, near Monterey Bay, about 160 kilometers south of San Francisco.

Another photo provided by KION-TV shows multiple agencies responding to Watsonville City Airport. (KION-TV via AP)

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Another photo provided by KION-TV shows multiple agencies responding to Watsonville City Airport. (KION-TV via AP)

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Photos and videos from the scene posted on social media show the wreckage of a small plane in a grassy field near the airport. One photo shows a plume of smoke visible from a street near the airport.

A photo taken from the city of Watsonville shows a small damaged airport building, with firefighters at the scene.

A witness told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that the planes were about 200 feet (61 meters) in the air when they crashed.

Franky Herrera was driving past the airport when he saw the bank of the twin-engine plane swerve to the right and collide with the wing of a smaller plane, which was “falling and falling” near the edge of the airport. flying and not far from home, he. told the newspaper.

The twin-engine plane continued to fly but “it was struggling,” Herrera said, and then he saw flames on the other side of the airport.

The manager of Watsonville Municipal Airport was not available for a phone interview for several hours after the crash. The airport accounts for about 40% of all general aviation operations in the Monterey Bay area, according to the City of Watsonville website.

The Watsonville Police Department forwarded calls to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, where a dispatcher had no information.

Two other pilots were also injured in the plane crash elsewhere in California on Thursday.

Authorities say a 65-year-old San Diego man suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries when his single-engine plane crashed on a street near a busy freeway overpass in El Cajon.

The plane is believed to have crashed into an SUV but no one on the ground was injured in the city nearly 20 miles (32 km) northeast of downtown San Diego.

Then, the pilot of an ultralight plane was seriously injured when it crashed upside down at a building at Camarillo Airport in Ventura County, about 97 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.



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