Two people were killed in a small plane crash in the Marin Headlands Friday afternoon, according to officials.
The single-engine Vans RV-10 aircraft crashed on a backcountry ridge north of Conzelman Road, away from any trails and roads, according to the FAA and the Golden Gate National Park Service.
An emergency beacon for the plane was activated at about 2:15 p.m., according to the park service. The FAA said the plane crashed around 2:40 p.m.
The park service said fog is "completely obscuring the area and the crash site is closed for the investigation."
NBC Bay Area Aviation Consultant Mike McCarron tracked the plane’s tail number on Flightaware and said, “What I saw was a pretty normal flight path out of Sacramento’s Executive Airport south side of Sacramento down through the Delta above Skaggs Island. Then he starts descending pretty rapidly and started doing circles over the bay … he appeared to be lost in the clouds as I understand it was very foggy the visibility was probably zero.”
That happened around noon.
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The names of the victims are being withheld at this time, the park service said.
TJ Neff, a broker and pilot instructor, has been flying since 1963 and said the plane that people assemble is very popular.
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“It's a four- seat low wing all metal airplane,” he said. “They’re relatively fast, easy to fly, fun to fly, good visibility, a lot of good things about them.”
Neff has no knowledge of what type of instruments the plane had on board but he says flying in fog is always bad.
“You can make it legal, the pilot would have an instrument rating and have to be current with flying experience so it’s not taken lightly.”
An investigation is underway.
No other information was immediately available.
