Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies on Tuesday raced to a field near the county airport in Byron after a pilot died when a small plane crashed and burned in a field near the county airport.
Sgt. Jimmy Lee said when deputies responded about 2 p.m., they found a small private plane had crashed and was on fire near Marsh Creek Road and Byron Highway.
It was originally believed that only one person had died in the crash, but crews examining the wreckage this evening discovered a second body, Lee said.
Joshua McLean, 19, told Bay City News that he witnessed the plane fall from the sky after hearing the engine whirring overhead.
"It was about 1,500 feet off the ground and corkscrewing toward the ground," McLean said. "It seemed as though he had just lost control of the plane."
According to the the Federal Aviation Administration website, the registered owner of the plane is a company, named DSB Inc, located in Fernley, in Lyon County in Nevada.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the FAA said that an experimental fixed wing, single-engine Glasair III crashed under "unknown circumstances" in a field about 4.5 miles northeast of the county's Byron Airport, which is at 500 Eagle Court.
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The plane burned after crashing and billowing smoke could be seen by an NBC Bay Area helicopter shortly after the crash.
Lee said federal authorities have been notified and will investigate the cause of the crash.
