3 in S. County Family Listed in Plane Crash : Fatalities: Woman, 2 grown children are among the dead after weekend trip to Las Vegas. The pilot was reportedly warned of unsafe flying conditions shortly before the accident in Nevada foothills.

A Lake Forest woman and two of her grown children, both from Orange County, were among seven people identified Tuesday as victims of a weekend plane crash after her annual birthday trek to Las Vegas.

Federal aviation authorities worked Tuesday to determine what caused the private plane to fall 4,000 feet shortly after takeoff and crash into the foothills of Mt. Potosi, 12 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

The twin-engine plane, scheduled to land at Torrance Municipal Airport at 8 p.m. Saturday, took off in strong winds. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that an air traffic controller had advised the pilot to turn back.

Killed were Phyllis Rose, 68, her daughter Carol Hubble, 44, of Laguna Niguel and her son, Brad Rose, 35, of Lake Forest.

Also killed in the crash were Nancy Osten, 33, of Newport Beach, George Derenia, 57, of Palos Verdes Estates, the licensed pilot and owner of the plane, his son Dennis, 37, of Lomita, and Susan Love, 58, of Torrance.

While officials combed through the flight wreckage, brothers Larry Rose of Lake Forest and Greg Rose of Torrance met at their mother’s house Tuesday night to deal with the loss and complete funeral plans.

Their brother, Brad, who lived with their mother, was an A student studying respiratory therapy at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Greg Rose said.

“He was really into helping people and doing everything he could,” he said.

Greg Rose described his sister Carol as “a very high-class woman.” She was self-employed and worked in Orange County, he said. Her two children, 14-year-old Kristin and 8-year-old Brent, were with their father in Laguna Niguel.

The brothers said Osten was a high school friend of their sister, and Love was a friend of their mother. The group, including the Derenias, had gone on previous trips with the Roses to Las Vegas to celebrate Phyllis Rose’s birthday.

On Saturday morning they flew in Derenia’s new 11-seat Cessna from Torrance to Las Vegas for the annual birthday trip, the brothers said.

After a banquet, the group took off from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas at 6 p.m. in heavy winds, authorities said.

“I question why he took off in those conditions,” said Larry Rose, 33. George Derenia “loved to fly. It’s hard to believe he took off,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles said an air traffic controller was concerned before the crash about the plane continuing on to California.

“The controller obviously had some concern about the plane and the altitude the pilot was flying because of mountains in the area,” said FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke. “There was a rapid descent of 4,000 feet in his flying altitude” shortly after takeoff. “But the pilot said he was OK.”

Brekke said air-traffic controllers contacted Derenia soon after takeoff. “The plane had taken off, and after it got up to 9,800 feet, it quickly descended to 5,800 feet,” Brekke said. “The controller contacted the pilot to see if everything was OK.”

After the pilot said he wanted to continue to Torrance, the controller advised him to return to the Las Vegas airport because he was in the vicinity of mountains and because of the weather, Brekke said.

“Shortly afterward they lost radio contact and the controllers saw a fireball in association with the crash,” she said.

“We’re devastated right now,” Greg Rose said. “We were waiting for a phone call to say they were (traveling) on a bus, but we never got it.”

Both brothers said they are waiting for federal flight authorities to make an official determination of the cause of the crash.

“We don’t really know what it was yet, whether it was a problem with the engine . . . ,” Gary Rose said.

“The pilot did not indicate a specific problem” to controllers, said Gary Mucho, regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board. “He just said ‘stand by,’ then the controllers observed the plane descending into the ground and saw a fireball.”

Larry Rose said he was the first family member to learn of the crash when he called Torrance airport Sunday morning.

“This is unbelievable. When something like this happens, it’s devastating.

“Last night I swear I could hear their voices.”

Times wire services contributed to this report.