5 Killed as Small Planes Collide Over Fields Near Sacramento
THORNTON, Calif. — Two small planes collided and crashed Sunday near this San Joaquin Valley farming community, killing as many as five people.
The planes hit the ground about a mile apart in fields near Interstate 5. No one on the ground was injured, officials said.
Three witnesses told officials they saw or heard the planes collide and crash, said Mike Esau, a spokesman for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department. Investigators found one body in the wreckage of a Cessna 180.
Esau said authorities believe that four people were killed in the second plane, a Cessna 210. But because of fire destruction, investigators were not sure if there were more victims in the plane, he said.
The planes’ destinations were not known. Thornton is 25 miles south of Sacramento.
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