MURRIETA, Calif. — Six people were killed when a small plane crashed and burst into flames in a field during the second of two landing attempts in fog at a Southern California airport before dawn Saturday, authorities said.

The crash of the Cessna C550 business jet occurred around 4:15 a.m. in Murrieta, about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames, which had engulfed the plane and charred about an acre of vegetation just north of French Valley Airport, the Riverside County Fire Department said.

All six people on board died at the scene, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The victims were not immediately identified.

The plane, which had departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, crashed during its second approach to French Valley’s single runway, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement.

Max Trescott, a California flight instructor who hosts the Aviation News Talk podcast, said data from a plane tracking website showed poor visibility in the moments before the crash. Conditions were deteriorating minute by minute after the pilot aborted the first landing attempt and circled back for another try, he told the Los Angeles Times.

It wasn’t clear why the pilot attempted to land on the second approach.

NTSB investigators were expected at the crash site later Saturday, the agency said.

The FAA’s aircraft tracking database lists the jet as owned by Prestige Worldwide Flights LLC of Imperial, California. Officials with the company could not be reached for comment.

It was the second fatal crash this week at the small county-owned airport in Murrieta, a city with about 112,000 residents. A man was killed and three people were injured on July Fourth when a single-engine Cessna 172 crashed in a parking lot shortly after takeoff from French Valley.

US drones harassed: Russian fighter jets have “harassed” American drones over Syria for the third day in a row this week, the U.S. military said.

Tension between Russian and U.S. troops is not uncommon in Syria as both countries conduct patrols on the ground as well as overflights. Syria’s 12-year conflict has left a half-million people dead and more than 1 million wounded.

The U.S. military said in a statement that Friday’s encounter lasted for about two hours during which three MQ-9 drones were “once again harassed” by Russian fighter jets in “18 unprofessional close passes” while flying over Syria.

Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, said earlier this week that Moscow is concerned about the flights of drones by the U.S.-led coalition over northern Syria, calling them “systematic violations of protocols” designed to avoid clashes between the two militaries.

Vermont officer killed: A Vermont police officer was killed and two other officers were injured when a burglary suspect crashed into two police cruisers pursuing him, Vermont State Police said.

Rutland City police Officer Jessica Ebbighausen, 19, was killed Friday, state police said.

Evidence indicates suspect Tate Rheaume, 20, crossed the centerline and collided head-on with Ebbighausen’s cruiser, police said. The suspect’s truck also hit another police cruiser.

Ebbighausen was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other officers and Rheaume were taken to hospitals in what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Ebbighausen, of Ira, Vermont, started working with the Rutland Police Department in May as a part-time officer, state police said. She was scheduled to start training in August at the Vermont Police Academy to become a full-time officer, police said

Northern Lights go south: A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give skygazers in 17 states a chance to glimpse the Northern Lights, the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere.

Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, are most often seen in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, but an 11-year solar cycle that’s expected to peak in 2024 is making the lights visible in places farther to the south. The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks has forecast auroral activity for Thursday in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine and Maryland.

Light displays are expected to be visible overhead in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Helena, Montana, and low on the horizon in Salem, Oregon.; Boise, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Annapolis, Maryland; and Indianapolis, according to the institute.

Sudan airstrike: An airstrike in a Sudanese city Saturday killed at least 22 people, health authorities said, in one of the deadliest air attacks yet in the three months of fighting between the country’s rival generals.

The assault took place in the Dar es Salaam neighborhood in Omdurman, the neighboring city of the capital, Khartoum, according to a brief statement by the health ministry.

The attack was one of the deadliest in the fighting in urban areas of the capital and elsewhere in Sudan. The conflict pits the military against a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces. Last month, an airstrike killed at least 17 people including 5 children in Khartoum.

The RSF blamed the military for Saturday’s attack and other strikes on residential areas in Omdurman.

Two Omdurman residents said it was difficult to determine which side was responsible for the attack. They said the military’s aircraft have repeatedly targeted RSF troops in the area and the paramilitary force has used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.

Netherlands politics: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited the king Saturday to hand in the resignation of his four-party coalition, setting the deeply divided Netherlands on track for a general election later this year.

King Willem-Alexander flew back from a family vacation in Greece so Rutte could explain the political crisis that toppled his administration.

The vexed issue of reining in migration that has troubled countries across Europe for years was the final stumbling block that brought down Rutte’s government Friday night, exposing the deep ideological differences between the four parties that made up the uneasy coalition.

Now it is likely to dominate campaigning for an election that is still months away.