Two employees were killed Friday after their company’s jet crashed moments after takeoff from Van Nuys Airport. The plane, a twin-engine Cessna Citation, was owned by Sun Quest Executive Air Charter Inc., a charter jet company founded in 1992 that operated out of Van Nuys Airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the plane took off at 10:55 a.m. from Van Nuys and was bound for Long Beach. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot radioed to the control tower that he had an emergency and needed to return and banked right, Gregor said. The plane crashed about a half-mile north of the airport, near the 8500 block of North Hayvenhurst Avenue, and hit at least one car before bursting into flames. Officials with the company would not disclose the passengers of the jet, but published reports indicated they were two Sun Quest workers, possibly the pilot and co-pilot. As of Friday night, the Los Angeles County Coroner was still examining the wreckage. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. Operations at the airport were not affected by the crash, an airport spokeswoman said. Van Nuys is the busiest general aviation airport in the country. It is owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports. The last fatal plane accident in the San Fernando Valley was June 1, 2005, when a single engine aircraft crashed into a rugged hillside near the 11500 block of Newcastle Avenue in Porter Ranch, according to NTSB documents.
