3 people killed when 2 planes collide in midair while trying to land – CBS News

Two small planes were attempting to land at the Watsonville Municipal Airport when they collided, killing three people.

A single-engine Cessna 152 and a twin-engine Cessna 340 collided at the Watsonville Municipal Airport Thursday just before 3 p.m. Three people and a dog were on board the planes. There were no reported survivors.

An investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board said the crash occurred at an uncontrolled airport where pilots communicate through a traffic advisory frequency.

The city-owned airport does not have a control tower to direct aircraft landing and taking off. The sheriff’s office said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating. According to this investigation, no one on the ground was injured in the crash.

The airport director said he’s never seen a collision of this nature and that the collision has deeply grieved the close-knit community at the airport.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed the wreckage of one small plane in a grassy field by the airport, and a plume of smoke visible from a street near the airport.

The wreckage of the two planes from yesterday’s plane crash remains at the Watsonville Municipal Airport. @NTSB officials say they will be removed by tomorrow morning and taken to a secure facility near Sacramento for further examination @KION546 pic.twitter.com/OGUv9IeYHs

— Calista Silva (@SilvaPhotog) August 19, 2022

Two other pilots were hurt in aircraft crashes elsewhere in California on Thursday, including a 65-year-old San Diego man who was injured in a single-engine plane crash.

To learn more about this shocking crash, please consider the news outlets listed below to stay in the know.