Small-plane crash in Northern California kills both occupants

Authorities were working over the weekend to recover wreckage from a small-plane crash that killed two people near Gilroy.

The Cessna 140 crashed Saturday evening “under unknown circumstances” about four miles northwest of Hollister, sustaining substantial damage, FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.

The passengers died Sunday, Santa Clara County coroner’s officials said. They were identified as Kiely Vaca, 18, of San Jose, and Jon Dennis, 69, of Gilory, who owned the plane.

It had been traveling from Hollister to Watsonville, which is north of Monterey Bay.

Crews searching for the plane’s wreckage found it Sunday morning.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was the subject of an alert notice Saturday. The notices are usually issued when neither communication nor radar can be established with an aircraft.

A friend tweeted a photo showing Vaca wearing a headset used during a previous flight.

The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the crash.

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