SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A single-engine plane crashed and burned shortly after takeoff in gusty winds, killing four people, authorities said.
'It was airborne about 100 to 200 feet when it plummeted down to the ground,' a witness in the control tower at Sacramento Executive Airport said.
'It was dark but we could see the red and green lights on the wingtips go straight down, and then it burst into flames.'
The Beechcraft Bonanza, owned by Kaweah Construction Co. of Visalia, Calif., took off shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday and then suddenly slammed into the ground and caught fire, air traffic control manager Art Gueneberger said.
Winds at the airport were reported to be gusting up to 25 mph around the time the plane was cleared for takeoff. 'It appears they got caught in a crosswind,' airport manager Warren Drack said.
Three bodies were immediately recovered from the wreckage and a fourth victim was found later.
Believed to have been on the plane were Don Brown, the company's president and general manager, and Robert L. Harman, an employee, according to Tim Shill, a foreman in the company's Sacramento office.
The identities of the pilot and the other passenger were withheld by the Sacramento County coroner until relatives could be notified.
Curt Thornton, president of W.M. Lyles Co. of Fresno, a sister company, said he believed the plane was returning to Visalia after picking someone up and looking at a project. The pilot was an independent hired for the day, he said.
