Staff reports

A small plane crashed Wednesday at the Camarillo Airport, leaving two people dead.

The man and woman killed were from out of state, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. Their identities had not been made public as of Monday morning pending notification of family members.

The incident was reported at 1:29 p.m. with a Ventura County Fire Department alert about a possible or imminent plane crash. Soon after that, there was a report of a plane down across from the control tower of the airport at Las Posas Road and Ventura Boulevard. There was no fire, according to crews at the scene.

The plane crashed about 1,000 feet short of Runway 26, according to Ian Gregor, a public affairs manager with the Federal Aviation Administration. A staff member with the Ventura County Department of Airports said the crash occurred as the plane was coming in to land.

The cause is under investigation.

The runway was closed to make room for emergency crews, who converged on the crash site in a strip of grass that runs parallel to the east-west runway and is just north of the tarmac. Within moments after arriving, crews reported that two people had died at the scene.

Debris was strewn near the mangled fuselage on the ground between the runway and a fence that runs along Ventura Boulevard. A crowd gathered along the boulevard to get a glimpse of the plane and the fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles.

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According to the identification number, the plane is a single-engine experimental craft made in 2002 from a Wheeler Aircraft Co. Express Series 2000 kit. It was amateur-built, according to records with the FAA.

It’s registered to a limited-liability corporation in Taylorsville, Utah, according to the FAA.

The plane had a valid license with an expiration date of Jan. 31, 2022, according to the FAA.

According to online reports, a Wheeler Express has a capacity of three passengers and is 26 feet long with a wingspan of 31.5 feet. It has an empty weight of 1,825 pounds.

In addition to the FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Staff writer Jeremy Childs contributed to this report

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