An investigation was under way Thursday to determine what caused a single-engine airplane to crash in a parking lot near Hawthorne Airport, killing all three aboard.
Mustapha Sesay, 38, of Ladera Ranch and Rajesh Vashdev, 40, of Manhattan Beach were killed in the crash, a coroner's investigator said. The name of the third victim was withheld pending notification of relatives, she added.
The crash occurred at 4:24 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a six-story building at 3901 W. Jack Northrop Ave. on the southwest end of the airport, said Inspector Steve Zermeno of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Allen Kenitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane apparently hit the building and a car, but no one on the ground was hurt. Zermeno said there was no damage to the building.
The three aboard the 2005 six-seater Beechcraft G36 were declared dead at the scene.
It unclear if the plane had just taken off from Hawthorne Airport or was attempting to land. The plane crashed about 200 yards from a runway, said county fire Inspector Darrell Jacobs.
He said the National Transportation Safety Board would be joining the investigation, which continued overnight.
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According to the FAA, the plane, which carried the registration number N618MW, was registered to Carpet Pros, a flooring business located at 4537 Artesia Blvd. in Lawndale.
