Five people, including a child, are killed in Virginia plane crash after jet fell short of runway and plowed through trees

Five people have been killed in a plane crash in Virginia close to Ingalls Field Airport in Bath County, north of Roanoke in the west of the state. 

The plane, a Westwind Astra, was a private jet and burst into flames on impact when the crash occurred at around 3pm when the airplane came down short of the runway as it was attempting to make an emergency landing.

The Virginia State Police says the plane fell short of the runway, plowed through trees before slamming into a hillside.

The aircraft was not initially set to land at the airport according to WSET.

Of the five people who died, one was the pilot, another was the first officer, and three others were passengers including a child. 

Five people have been killed in a plane crash in Virginia. The plane, a Westwind Astra, was a private jet and burst into flames on impact (file photo)

The crash occurred close to Ingalls Field Airport in Bath County, north of Roanoke in the west of the state. Pictured, a file photo of Ingalls Field Airport

The incident occurred around 3 pm as the plane came down short of the runway at Ingalls Field Airport in Bath County north of Roanoke (pictured on Google Earth)

One of the passengers was a child aged 5-7 years old reports WSLS. No survivors have been found.

Local first responders were immediately on the scene including the Bath County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police and the Hot Springs Fire and Rescue.

Virginia State Police is investigating the crash alongside the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Law enforcement shut down the airport and is investigating the scene. 

There have been a number of fatal plane crashes so far in 2024. 

Shocking footage captured the moment the plane exploded into a fireball by the side of a Nashville highway last Monday, killing all five on board

A young family-of-five including three children, 12, 10 and 7, perished in fireball in  Nashville last week.

Victor Dotsenko, 43, his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children David, 12, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7, died on Monday next to Interstate-40 when their single-engine plane crashed and burst into a fireball. 

Chilling cockpit audio captured Victor frantically warning air traffic control that his 'engine turned off' at 1600ft, as he said his family are 'going to be landing... I don't know where. I'm too far away, I won't make it.' 

Moments before, Victor mysteriously overshot John C. Thune Airport by several miles before he U-turned and crashed around 8pm, and investigators have 'no idea why'.

Video out of Florida shows a plane crash in Naples in February - a harrowing vantage offered by an eagle-eyed motorist on I-75.

The private plane crashed into cars on a major highway, causing a massive explosion and killing two of the five people on board

Last month a plane crashed on to I-75 in Florida - killing two people.

The video shows the private jet piloted by 50-year-old Edward Daniel Murphy and second in command Ian Frederick Hofmann, 65, that crashed when its engines failed.

The two pilots died on impact, but thanks to their ability to guide the Bombardier Challenger 60 on to the crowded highway, three others onboard survived. 

In January, four people died when a single-engine aircraft crashed off the coast of Half Moon Bay in California. 

Among them was a 27-year-old 'experimental plane enthusiast' who piloted the four-seater homebuilt aircraft he'd bought for $100,000 from a retired dentist last year. 

A week later another single-engine two-seater homebuilt plane plowed into a car at a busy intersection 60 miles away in Concord, killing its pilot and injuring the car's driver. 

Both accidents are being investigated and have renewed scrutiny on a burgeoning subculture.