The Associated Press
CARLSBAD, Calif. — A private jet overshot a runway and crashed in flames Tuesday, killing all four people aboard, authorities said.
The Cessna 560 came in for a landing at Southern California McClellan-Palomar Airport on a flight from Hailey, Idaho, but went about 150 yards beyond the runway, smashing through scaffolding and into a commercial storage facility, said Bill Polick, spokesman for the San Diego County Department of Public Works.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Polick said the weather was clear with only light wind.
One victim was identified by his company as Frank H. Jellinek Jr., 60, chairman emeritus of Fisher Scientific International, a Hampton, N.H., supplier of medical and research instruments.
Jellinek was flying to San Diego County to attend business meetings for Fisher Scientific, said Gia Oei, a company spokeswoman.
In Idaho, the Wood River Journal newspaper reported that others who boarded the plane there were pilot Jack Francis, co-pilot Andy Garrett and passenger Janet Shafran, wife of one of the aircraft’s registered owners.
Authorities said the plane was registered to Goship Air LLC of Ketchum, Idaho. Idaho business records show it is owned by Ketchum City Councilman Steve Shafran and Kipp Nelson, an investment banker and a trustee of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. Calls to their homes were not immediately answered.
Norman Boyd said he saw the plane in trouble as he drove near the airport on his way to work.
“Its landing gear was up and it was going down really fast,” Boyd, who worked on aircraft in the Navy, said in a telephone interview. “It was heading toward the runway and the approaching speed was way beyond what it should be.”
The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators to the scene 30 miles north of San Diego.