The NTSB is investigating after a 1979 Cessna Citation II crashed on approach to French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California, (F70) early Saturday morning, killing all aboard. The aircraft crashed 500 feet short of 6,000-foot Runway 18 at 4:15 a.m. local time while flying a second nonprecision RNAV (GPS) instrument approach with vertical guidance into the nontowered airport in conditions described by local law enforcement as “heavy fog.”
According to the National Weather Service, F70 weather at the time of the accident was half-mile visibility in fog and 300-foot overcast. The LPV decision altitude for the RNAV (GPS) approach is 300 feet, with minimum 7/8-mile visibility. Until 3:35 a.m., when mist, 3/4-mile visibility, and 300-foot overcast were reported, the weather was clear with 10-mile visibility.
The wreckage was consumed by a post-crash fire that ignited a brush fire that took an hour to extinguish. The flight originated at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at 3:16 a.m. local time. The aircraft was registered to Prestige Worldwide Flights of Imperial, California, and it had arrived in Las Vegas from F70 Friday night at 10:04 p.m.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which identified the pilots flying, and FAA records, both pilots held commercial certificates and were type-rated in the Citation with a second-in-command pilot required.