Plane Crashes on Takeoff; 2 Aboard Killed
A light plane crashed Friday afternoon while taking off from a private airstrip near Rosamond in the Antelope Valley, killing both people on board, officials said.
The victims were not immediately identified. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the single-engine Cessna 172 first took off from Bakersfield Municipal Airport about 2 p.m. on a flight to Rosamond and Bullhead City, Ariz.
A man at Kern Charter Service, who did not give his name, said a customer had rented the 30-year-old plane from the charter service at the Bakersfield airport.
The charter service said the customer apparently took off alone, then stopped off at the airstrip near Rosamond, just north of the Kern County-Los Angeles County line, to pick up a passenger.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Department said the plane crashed shortly before 3 p.m. as it was leaving for Arizona.
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