Five brothers and sisters lost their parents when the private jet they were riding in missed the runway and crashed in Southern California. The family has launched a fundraiser to help the five children following the tragedy.
Manuel Vargas-Regalado, 32, a marine corps veteran, and his wife Abigail Tellez-Vargas, 33, were killed when the Cessna C550 business jet exploded into flames after missing the runway in Murrieta, California around 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The mother and father were on their way home from a business trip early Saturday, July 8 when the pilot radioed air traffic control and told them he could not see the landing strip due to heavy fog.
“These children did not just lose one parent they have lost both which just breaks my heart,” Monique Bettencourt, a friend of the family, wrote on the family’s GoFundMe.
She said the children’s “whole world had been taken from them” following the heart-breaking incident.
She continued: “No kid should have to face this type of tragedy Please be in prayer for their kids and family during these devastating times.”
Bettencourt added: “They were amazing parents to five beautiful children who they leave behind, Caleb 14, Alexandria 11, Manny eight, Alberto three, and Avi one.”
The fundraiser has raised nearly $25,000 out of its $150,000 goal. The money will go to Mrs. Tellez-Vargas’s sister Abigail who will raise the five children “as her own”.
Four others died in the tragic crash including pilot Riese Lenders, 25, Ibrahem ‘Abe’ Razick, 46, Alma Razick, 51, and Lindsey Gleiche, 31.
There has been an outpouring of tributes on social media for pilot Riese Lenders, who has been called a “great man” by those close to him.
“RIP Riese Lenders we were just getting going young blood! You went out this morning doing what you loved and truly made you stoked daily,” one Facebook post read.
It added: “You will be remembered as my friend, my pilot, and one hell of a great man! So fun and so in tune with life. You were a pleasure to be around.”
Ibrahem Razick – who went by Abe – owned a car dealership and was an ex-marine. His shop Fullerton Ford posted condolences describing him as a “loving husband, father, brother and proud United States Marine”.
It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames, which engulfed the plane and charred about an acre of vegetation just north of French Valley Airport, said the Riverside County Fire Department. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
It was the second fatal crash in a week at the small county-owned airport in Murrieta, home to about 112,000 residents. One person was killed and three others were injured when a single-engine plane crashed on July 4, authorities said.
The Cessna 172 with four people aboard crashed shortly after taking off from French Valley Airport in Murrieta around 2.45pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
