KEY POINTS

  • A total of three occupants were aboard the two aircraft that collided mid-air
  • A single-engine Cessna 152 and a twin-engine Cessna 340 were involved
  • The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash

A collision between two planes that were trying to land at a local Northern California airport led to the deaths of at least two people.

Officials said the mid-air collision took place at Watsonville Municipal Airport shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday.

The two aircraft involved were a single-engine Cessna 152, which was carrying only the pilot, and a twin-engine Cessna 340, which had two occupants, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement, CNN reported.

The aircraft collided about 200 feet in the air while the pilots were making final approaches to the airport, witnesses said.

A witness, identified as 26-year-old Franky Herrera, said he was driving past the airport and saw the Cessna 340 slam into the wing of the Cessna 152, according to the New York Post.

The smaller, single-engine aircraft was sent tumbling down to the edge of the airfield.

"The smaller plane just spiraled down and crashed right here," Herrera, an off-duty law enforcement officer, told Santa Cruz Sentinel as he gestured toward the wreckage.

The aircraft crashed about 100 feet away from houses located along Buena Vista Drive. The other aircraft continued on after the collision but "was struggling," Herrera explained, adding that he then saw flames on the other side of the airport.

No injuries were reported to anyone on the ground.

Details about what caused the crash were not immediately clear. The mid-air collision is being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

A tweet from the City of Watsonville said "multiple agencies responded" to the airport and there were "reports of multiple fatalities."

"We are absolutely saddened to hear about the tragic incident that took the lives of several people," the city administration said in a follow-up tweet. "The City of Watsonville sends its deepest condolences to the friends and family of those who passed."

More than 55,000 operations are handled every year at the city-owned Watsonville Municipal Airport, which has four runways. The airport is home to over 300 aircraft and is mostly used for recreational or agricultural business operations.

There is no control tower to guide pilots landing and taking off from the airport.

Representational image: Plane crash
Representational image (Source: Pixabay / JayMantri)
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