Debris found in orchard after small plane went off radar

Officials in California said on Sunday they had found debris from a small plane crash and there were no signs of survivors, just hours after an aircraft went missing from radar.

Mark Christian 23ABC speaks with KCSO Senior Deputy John Carpenter on the plane debris that was found near Panama Lane.

Officials in California pulled five bodies on Sunday from a small plane that crashed in the central part of the state, police said.

Although local authorities did not immediately identify the victims of Saturday afternoon’s crash, a grieving family friend said those aboard the single-engine Piper PA32 Turbo Lance airplane were Jason and Olga Price and their three children.

The coroner’s office has not released the identities of the victims.

The plane was en route from Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, California, to Henderson, Nevada. He said the debris field was about a quarter of a mile in length from north to south.

“It’s not a typical crash, coming so close to the holidays”, King said.

Investigators had not located the plane’s tail number, which would officially identify it as the aircraft out of San Jose, but authorities believe it is the plane.

FAA records list an address for an owner of the plane.

The sheriff’s office says it received a mayday call from a single engine plane at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

“The NTSB is in charge of the investigation”, he said.

A weather front was moving through southern Kern County at the time.