‘Grieving deeply’: New pilot among 6 killed in California plane crash

MURRIETA, Calif. — A real estate agent, the owner of a car dealership and a newly minted pilot were among the six California residents killed in the weekend crash of a small plane near an airport southeast of Los Angeles.

The Cessna C550 business jet that had departed from Las Vegas crashed in a field and burst into flames around 4:15 a.m. Saturday upon approach to French Valley Airport in Murrieta, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Everyone on board died at the scene. Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner Chad Bianco has identified them as Lindsey Gleiche, 31, of Huntington Beach; Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes; Alma Razick, 51, of Temecula; Ibrahem Razick, 46, of Temecula; Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, of Murrieta; and Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, of Temecula.

‘We are grieving deeply’

The six victims were remembered during a service Sunday at Rolling Hills Covenant Church, where Riese Lenders’ father is an elder.

Clyde LaGue, chair of the church’s elder board, broke the news to congregants and shared a message from Rod Lenders, who lost his son, the Southern California News Group reported.

“Yesterday, the Lord took our beloved son Riese in a plane crash,” LaGue said on behalf of the Lenders family. “We are grieving deeply, but our hope is in the Lord.”

Riese Lenders had received his commercial pilot certificate in April, Federal Aviation Administration records show. He was piloting the jet along with co-pilot Manuel Vargas-Regalado at the time of the crash, said Michael Morris, the plane’s owner. Lender’s girlfriend, Lindsey Gleiche, was among those killed.

“We lost six wonderful souls (who) unfortunately left behind 11 kids,” Morris said.

The victims’ children range in age from a newborn to 11 years old, he said.

More details emerge

Morris said he had received a call from Vargas-Regalado, manager and lead pilot of his flight company, who told him he wanted to take a few people to Las Vegas and asked if he could use one of his planes. The company owner agreed and said he didn’t ask questions because he knew the 32-year-old pilot, who had flown for him for two years, was responsible.

The planes registered to Morris’ company, Prestige Worldwide Flights LLC, are based in Temecula.

Vargas-Regalado and his wife, Abigail Tellez-Vargas, died, leaving behind seven children, Morris said. Tellez-Vargas was a real estate agent, the Southern California News Group reported. Razick, a car dealership owner, had four children.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

The crash occurred during the second of two landing attempts in low clouds and poor visibility, authorities said. The jet, which can seat up to 13 people, crashed about 500 feet short of the intended runway, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Elliott Simpson said Saturday. He said fire consumed most of the aircraft.