Authorities are investigating after a private jet that left Fort Lauderdale crashed in Virginia.
Five people are dead after a small private jet that had departed from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport crashed in Virginia on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities said the twin-engine IAI Astra 1125 crashed into a wooded area near the Ingalls Field Airport in Hot Springs, Virginia, around 3 p.m.
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Just before landing, the plane struck a tree and then a hillside, police said. The plane became fully engulfed in flames.
Of the five deaths, one was the pilot, another was the first officer and the three others were passengers. Police said one of the passengers was a child.
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Family friends and neighbors confirmed to NBC6 that pilot Alfredo J. Diez was on the plane with his crew and family. Officials haven't released the identities of the people killed.
The plane had left FLL and was on its way to Hot Springs when it crashed while on a runway approach about 1/10th of a mile from the runway, National Transportation Safety Board officials said.
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The wreckage was found about 200-300 feet short of the runway.
Officials said that preliminary, there was no information to suggest there was an emergency declared by the flight crew.
The airport closed following the crash.
An NTSB investigator arrived at the crash site Monday to begin the documentation of the crash.
