LA VERNE - For the second time in less than 24 hours, there’s been a deadly plane crash near Brackett Field.

The latest incident occurred just before noon Monday, according to a La Verne Police Department news release.

The Beech Bonanza aircraft was approaching the runway when it crashed, with initial reports indicating it may have hit a tree, a Federal Aviation Administration official said in an emailed statement to KTLA television.

The plane burst into flames after impact, sending a thick plume of black smoke high into the air. The pilot -- the plane's sole occupant -- was killed in the fiery crash, police said.

"I was the first one to land and I believe this pilot was the second one coming in," Steve, another pilot, who was also flying into the airport on Monday told KTLA. "Right when I exited the runway I looked to the right and saw big, black smoke and flames. So apparently it looks like he undershot the runway and landed short of the runway."
Not far from the site, the mangled remains of an aircraft that crashed Sunday evening in a plant nursery remained at the scene early Monday afternoon, the aerial footage showed.

A man was killed and a woman injured when the single-engine Cessna 177RG plane went down along the 1600 block of Puddingstone Drive around 5:45 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

Less than a minute before the crash, the pilot radioed the airport's control tower to report engine trouble, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Both crashes are being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Story Date: October 5, 2018