No Survivors In Fiery Plane Crash Near SW RivCo

CORONA, CA — A single-engine airplane crashed and caught fire Wednesday just northeast of Corona Municipal Airport, killing four people on board, according to the Corona Fire Department.

There were no crash survivors, officials said.

The Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed shortly after noon as the pilot was trying to depart Runway 7 at the non-towered airport. The fiery wreckage caused a small brush fire that was quickly extinguished, although approximately 80 gallons of fuel were spilled and the airport was closed.

A witness told The Press-Enterprise the plane struck a fence, overturned and caught fire, never making it more than three feet off the ground while trying to take off.

"He didn't pull back and he was too fast at the end of the runway," Dorothe Voll, a pilot, told the paper. "And then he flipped and everybody was running and it started on fire. Then you had two explosions. ... We brought over fire extinguishers but it was all engulfed."

According to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor, the aircraft was destroyed.

No homes or other structures were in the immediate vicinity.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating.

The names of the victims have not been released.

—City News Service contributed to this report.