By Greg Risling
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A small business jet crashed while taking off from Van Nuys Airport on Friday, killing two people, officials said. A witness said the door of a nose compartment on the plane was open as it took off.

The plane had been carrying only its two crew members when it went down around 11 a.m., said Joe Miller, a dispatcher with Sun Quest Executive Air Charter, which operated the plane. Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers said two bodies were located in the burned wreckage.

Miller declined to comment on their identities.

The plane's left-hand nose baggage door was "wide open" as it took off, and the jet was veering side-to-side at a low speed, said witness Steve Purwin, a corporate jet pilot with 25 years experience.

Little remained of twin-engine Cessna Citation but smoldering debris in a field near the San Fernando Valley airport. No nearby structures appeared to be damaged.

The plane had been leaving the airport in the Los Angeles suburbs, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. It was headed to Long Beach, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles.

Depending on the model, a Citation can hold four to eight passengers, plus two pilots.

The weather was clear with visibility at 10 miles and a 7-8 mph wind, according to the National Weather Service's Web site.

Sun Quest Executive Air Charter is a Van Nuys charter service that has operated since 1992, according to the company's Web site.

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Van Nuys, owned by the city's Los Angeles World Airports department, is the busiest general aviation airport in the nation, with an average of nearly 500,000 takeoffs and landings annually.