According to a witness, the planes were around 200 feet (61 metres) in the air when they crashed...
Digital Desk: Two planes collided on Thursday in Northern California while trying to land at a local airport, causing multiple deaths. According to a tweet from Watsonville, the planes crashed at Watsonville Municipal Airport shortly before 3 o'clock. Reportedly, there is no control tower at the city-owned airport to direct aircraft landing and taking off.
"Multiple agencies responded to Watsonville Municipal Airport after 2 planes attempting to land collided. We have reports of multiple fatalities," the city officials said in a statement posted via Twitter.
The Federal Aviation Administration reports that during the collision, a twin-engine Cessna 340 carried two passengers, while a single-engine Cessna 152 had just the pilot. Officials said many fatalities have been recorded, although it is unclear whether anyone survived.
Before the crash, the pilots were making their final approaches to the airport, according to a statement from the FAA. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are looking into the collision but did not immediately have any additional information.
There were no casualties on the ground. According to the airport's website, it has four runways and is home to more than 300 aircraft. It conducts about 55,000 operations per year and is frequently used for recreational flights and agricultural companies.
Watsonville, near Monterey Bay, is located around 100 miles (160 kilometres) south of San Francisco.
Social media photos and videos showed the wreckage of a small plane on a grassy field near the airport. One image displayed a smoke plume that was visible from a street close to the airport.
A photo from the city of Watsonville showed damage to a small building at the airport, with firefighters on the scene.
According to a witness, the planes were around 200 feet (61 metres) in the air when they crashed.
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