2 Killed In Plane Crash Shortly After Takeoff In Sonoma County

click to expand

PETALUMA (AP) -- Northern California authorities say a pilot and passenger have been killed in the crash of a small plane near a Sonoma County airfield.

Witness Giorvi Alvarez tells the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that he heard the plane's engine sputter shortly after takeoff Sunday from Petaluma Municipal Airport.

Alvarez says the plane was turning around and heading back to the airport when it crashed in a street. Officials say nobody on the ground was hurt but both occupants of the plane were killed. They haven't been identified.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the plane was a single-engine Van's RV-6. The two-seat homebuilt airplane is sold in kit form.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of San Francisco.