Two children were killed and two adults were critically injured Saturday afternoon when a small plane crashed near a Fresno airport, authorities said.
The aircraft had four people on board when it went down near the San Joaquin River shortly before 2 p.m., prompting a large emergency response to the area.
Tony Botti, a public information officer for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, told The California Post that authorities received a report of the crash at about 1:50 p.m. near the far north end of Blythe Avenue, close to Sierra Sky Park.
Fire crews, police officers and sheriff’s deputies arrived to find the wreckage on a bluff overlooking the river, while flames burned across a nearby hillside.
The two adults aboard the plane were taken to a hospital, where they remained in critical condition.
Officials had not yet released the victims’ identities or confirmed their exact ages.
The cause of the crash was still unknown Saturday as investigators began working to determine what led to the plane going down.
Botti said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are involved in the investigation, with the NTSB leading the effort to determine the cause.
A secured perimeter was thrown around the wreckage to keep people out and give investigators room to work.
Fresno police, Fresno Fire Department, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, PG&E and North Central Fire Department also responded, according to ABC30.
The crash also knocked out power to nearby residents, although service was later restored, according to PG&E’s outage map.
