OROVILLE, Calif. — All 10 people aboard a small jet escaped injury Wednesday after the aircraft aborted its takeoff at a small Northern California airport, went off the runway and burst into flames, officials said.
The pilot of the twin-engine Cessna Citation jet aborted its takeoff at Oroville Municipal Airport for unknown reasons shortly before noon, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The plane was carrying two pilots and eight passengers, and "all were accounted for, no injuries," said Joe Deal, Oroville's fire and police chief.
The jet had complications during takeoff that resulted in its catching fire, he said.
It slid off the end of the runway, sparking a fire in the dry grass. Photos and video from witnesses shows the jet's door open and its landing gear apparently retracted. Officials briefly closed nearby Highway 162 before controlling the grass fire at less than two acres.
"They were out of the plane quickly," said Rick Carhart, a spokesman the CalFire/Butte County Fire Department that assisted at the scene. By the time the first fire engine arrived, "the people had already gotten off and vacated the area very quickly."
Carhart said he didn't know if the jet caught fire before or after it left the runway.
The plane was flying from Oroville to Portland International Airport in Oregon, Gregor said.
An FAA website says the model 560XL jet was manufactured in 2003 and is registered to Jotts LLC, with an address that tracks to a firm based in Wilmington, Delaware, that provides registered agent services to multiple companies.
Deal said it was a personally chartered jet, and its corporate passengers had stayed overnight in Oroville.
"It was attempting to take off, but early reports show that it never made it off the ground," Deal said. The jet slid off the northern end of the runway onto a grassy area, but it never left the airport property. It was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived.
Oroville Municipal Airport Manager Rick Farley gave ABC10 an exclusive tour of the airport's longest runway, at 6,000 feet - that's more than a mile. He pointed out skid marks, where the plane went beyond the runway and into the field beyond. Cessna's website says this model of plane only needs about 3,500 feet to take off.
"You can see where the landing gear came off once they got in the real rough ground," Farley said, pointing large pieces of gear strewn over a grassy hill beyond the runway. "The landing gear is not designed for anything but pavement and once it runs off into a rough area, it usually tears the landing gear off and puts them on the belly of the aircraft."
He said he feels for the pilots and how panicked they must have been.
"When you drive up and the aircraft's totally destroyed by fire, you're wondering how anyone could've gotten out of it," he said. "What a relief, especially when you look at the small amount that's remaining of that aircraft."
Farley said it doesn't appear wind was a factor and there's no immediate signs any animals or debris got sucked into the engines. Farley did say the Cessna's pilots bought 200 gallons of fuel from the airport before taking off, which helps explain the intense flames.
"When a lot of airplanes are taking off, they do have a lot of fuel, so if there is a fire, it has a potential to really burn," he said.
Firefighters were able to quickly control the grass fire, but it took more than an hour to extinguish the jet, partly because it had just taken on 400 gallons of jet fuel, he said. A crash truck from nearby Chico sprayed the jet with foam to help extinguish the blaze.
The airport, which does not have commercial flights, remained open.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. It typically takes the NTSB a year or more to determine a probable cause of an accident, Gregor said.
Delta Private Jets spokesperson Elizabeth Wolf released the following statement on the crash:
“We are in close contact with the customers on board an aircraft operated by Delta Private Jets that left the runway in Oroville, Calif., on Wednesday after the crew elected to reject takeoff before leaving the ground.
All eight customers and two crew safely exited the aircraft and were escorted to the terminal. While the cause of the incident is currently under investigation, we are providing support to customers involved through re-accommodation and other resources.”