A woman injured in a fiery plane crash near a California airport that killed two children has died from her injuries, authorities announced Sunday.
The victim was one of four people aboard the aircraft when it went down near the San Joaquin River just before 2 p.m. Saturday, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. She becomes the third fatality in the wreck, which also claimed the lives of two minors who were on the plane.
The sole remaining survivor, a fourth occupant of the aircraft, continues to fight for life in critical condition, according to the sheriff’s office. Officials have not yet released the names or ages of any of the victims, nor have they specified what caused the aircraft to plummet near the waterway east of Fresno.
Emergency crews rushed to the riverbank Saturday afternoon after the aircraft erupted in flames, creating what witnesses described as a fireball at the crash site. The intensity of the blaze complicated rescue efforts as first responders worked to reach those trapped inside.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to join the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in probing what went wrong during the flight. Investigators will examine the aircraft’s maintenance records, the pilot’s experience and any weather or mechanical factors that may have contributed to the disaster.
Small-plane crashes have drawn increased scrutiny in California’s Central Valley in recent years, with the region’s agricultural aviation traffic and variable weather patterns creating challenging conditions for pilots. The San Joaquin River corridor, where Saturday’s wreck occurred, sits beneath approach paths used by aircraft heading to regional airports.
The sheriff’s office has indicated that additional information about the victims will be released once next-of-kin notifications are completed. That process has been delayed by the severity of the injuries sustained in the crash, which left some remains requiring forensic identification.
The two children who perished in the wreck were pronounced dead at the scene Saturday, while the woman who died Sunday had been transported to a hospital with catastrophic injuries. The critical-condition survivor remains under intensive medical care, with no update on their prognosis available.
Federal investigators typically take months to complete preliminary reports on fatal aviation accidents, with final determinations of cause sometimes requiring more than a year of analysis. The wreckage from Saturday’s crash will be catalogued and examined at a secure facility as part of that process.
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