Private jet crashes into hangar at California airport, sparks inferno

A multimillion dollar private jet crashed into a hangar at a California airport creating an “unsurvivable” inferno on the ground, a fire official said.

The twin-engine Cessna Citation ran off the end of the runway while landing at Santa Monica Airport at 6:20 p.m. local time (9:20 p.m. ET) Sunday. Such aircraft cost at least $3 million.

Ringo H.W. Chiu / AP

Firefighters work near a collapsed hangar at the site of a plane crash in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday.

The was no immediate information on the number of passengers or their conditions, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

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Santa Monica Fire Department Captain John Nevandro told NBC Los Angeles that the crash was "unsurvivable.” He added: "The building actually collapsed and wrapped itself around the plane."

Gregor said a crane would be required to lift the collapsed hangar from the aircraft and that firefighters would not be able to get to the wreckage until later on Monday.

The aircraft’s tail was visible outside the wreckage, exposing its registration number: N194SJ. According to flightaware.com, the aircraft is registered to Creative Real Estate Exchange, a debt management and real estate company based in Malibu, Calif.

The plane had taken off from Hailey, Idaho, just over an hour before the incident.

The Idaho airport serves the town of Sun Valley and the Sun Valley alpine region, which is known for its world-class skiing.