Fire Captain: No Survivors in Plane Crash at Santa Monica Airport

By City News Service

There were no survivors in the crash of a twin- engine Cessna Citation jet aircraft that veered off a runway and crashed into a hangar during landing at Santa Monica Airport on Sunday, authorities said.

Capt. John Nevandro of the Santa Monica Fire Department said in a televised interview that "it was an unsurvivable crash.''

The crash into the hangar caused enough structural damage that it collapsed on the plane, which caught fire, making it impossible for rescuers to get close to the wreckage.

Few details have been released in the aftermath of the crash, which happened about 6:20 p.m., Federal Aviation Authority spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The number of people aboard the plane was unknown, he said.

Authorities at the scene said it would be necessary to use a crane to lift the hangar off the plane Monday morning to determine how many people died in the crash.

Fire from the impacted hangar spread to two adjacent hangars, but those blazes were put out, Bridgette Lewis of the Santa Monica Fire Department said.

The eight-seat plane took off from Hailey, Idaho, Gregor said. The craft -- which flight-tracking data showed made four flights between Hailey and Santa Monica since Sept. 15 -- was registered to Creative Real Estate Exchange, which, according to its website and various media reports, is a business based in Atlanta, GA, and Birmingham, AL.

FAA records show the owner of the plane to be a Malibu resident, according to the reports.