FRESNO, CA — Two children and a woman were dead, and a man was in critical condition after a plane crash Saturday in Fresno, according to authorities.
The woman was identified Sunday as 41-year-old Auberry resident Danna Eady by Fresno County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Tony Botti, who said in a video posted by the agency on Facebook that it will take time to identify the children found dead in the wreckage, but that they are about aged 8-12.
Emergency personnel responded around 1:50 p.m. to the 7300 block of North Blythe Avenue, authorities said. A fixed-wing, single-engine airplane was on fire atop the bluff of the San Joaquin River, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.
The children were pronounced dead at the scene and the adults were taken to a hospital, where the woman died, the sheriff's office said Sunday, adding the man remained in critical condition.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby homes, authorities said, adding the sheriff's office was holding a safety perimeter Sunday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it had opened an investigation into Saturday's crash of a Grumman American Avn. Corp. AA-5 airplane, which impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Sierra Skypark in Fresno.
An NTSB investigator was traveling to the crash site, officials said. After the wreckage is documented, it will be recovered and moved to a secure facility for further examination, officials added.
A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the crash, the NTSB said.
Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi in a statement described the crash as "a rare and tragic situation in northwest Fresno."
"I ask our community to pray for this family who are going through something unimaginable," he said in the statement.
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