The Latest: Private plane crashed on takeoff, killing 4

SAN FRANCISCO – The Latest on two deadly plane crashes in California in July (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation and Safety Board says a small private plane lost control during takeoff last month and crash-landed in a Northern California town, killing a family of four aboard.

The report says witnesses saw the 1958 Cessna 310B taxi onto a runway for departure July 27. About 40 feet above the ground, the plane stopped climbing and started drifting to the left.

Witnesses say the plane then descended and crashed. It immediately burst into flames.

The four killed were the pilot, his wife and the pilot’s mother and stepfather. The victims were from Sonora, California.

The Columbia Airport in Tuolumne County is about 130 miles east of San Francisco. It doesn’t have air traffic control.

___

12:05 p.m.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation and Safety Board says a small medical plane broke up in flight last month and then crashed into a densely forested Northern California mountain range, killing all four people aboard.

The Piper PA31 was carrying a flight nurse, a transport medic and a patient from Crescent City, near the Oregon border, to Oakland when the pilot said he saw smoke in the cockpit and declared an emergency July 29.

The NTSB’s early findings emerged from interviews with witnesses, an investigation at the crash scene and data collection. The report says both engines separated from their firewalls but it wasn’t immediately clear if that happened in flight or on impact.

A woman camping nearby reported seeing a large, dome-shaped flash, followed by another flash and a loud rumble.