The Latest: Fatal plane crash at California prison yard

NORCO, Calif. – The Latest on a plane crash in a California prison yard (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

An historic flying wing aircraft has crashed and burned at a state prison in California, killing the pilot.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the single-seat Northrop N-9M crashed Monday in the exercise yard at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.

It was the last surviving version of a pioneering craft developed in the 1940s.

Debris spread across a scorched patch of empty yard at the prison about 50 miles (80 kilometres) east of downtown Los Angeles.

Riverside County sheriff’s officials can’t confirm the pilot’s death but say the crash was fatal. Nobody on the ground was seriously hurt, although corrections officials say one inmate received scratches.

There’s no word on what caused the accident at the prison, which houses about 3,400 inmates.

The N-9M was developed as a heavy bomber. That program was cancelled, but many years later the flying wing concept resurfaced in what became the B-2 stealth bomber.

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1:30 p.m.

Authorities say nobody on the ground was hurt when a small plane crashed in the exercise yard of a state prison in Southern California.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the Northrop N-9M aircraft crashed Monday at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.

Kenitzer says the pilot was the only person on board. The condition of the pilot isn’t immediately known.

Television news footage shows debris spread across a scorched patch of empty yard at the facility about 50 miles (80 kilometres) east of downtown Los Angeles.

State corrections officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for details.

The N-9M was a flying wing developed in the 1940s.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

The prison in Riverside County houses about 3,400 male inmates.