A Santa Monica plane crash killed at least one person on Sunday. The small business plane crashed into a hangar and burned after landing at Santa Monica Airport.
A twin-engine Cessna Citation was landing at the airport on Sunday evening when it ran off the right edge of the runway and hit a hangar, NBC reports.
The plane had left from Hailey, Idaho. According to Santa Monica Fire Department Capt. John Nevandro, the crash was "unsurvivable." However it is not clear exactly how many people were on board. The plane could seat up to eight.
"The building actually collapsed and wrapped itself around the plane," Nevandro said. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the entire wreckage was engulfed in flames.
"There were these little flames, like it could have been put out with a fire extinguisher," witness Rachel Pollack told NBC. "Then, all of the sudden, there was an explosion. There was another explosion, and it just got bigger and bigger."
Residents believe that the plane would have crashed into their homes if it didn't hit the hangar. The airport is surrounded by a dense residential area.
One witness, Shea Bowen-Smith was just a block away from the airport when she heard the commotion.
"We heard a boom in the backyard," Bowen-Smith told NBC. "We saw a huge pillar of smoke."
Crews will use a crane to lift the collapsed hangar and the remains of the wreckage on Monday. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the crash. The airport runway was closed on Monday.
The jet is registered to Creative Real Estate Exchange LLC, a real-estate company based in Alabama and Georgia. The owner of the plane lives in Malibu. It had made eight trips since Sept. 15th, including four trips between Hailey and Santa Monica.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
