The plane, a four-engine British Aerospace BAe 146-200, cruised at 6700 m over the central California coast. On board were 38 passengers and 5 crew members.
The plane was estimated to have crashed at a speed of around 1,240 km/u, disintegrating instantly.
It is estimated that the aircraft hit the ground at five thousand times the force of gravity.
The plane impacted a rocky hillside, leaving a crater less than 2 feet deep and 4 feet across, presumably where the landing gear struck the ground.
The high speed impact had compressed the soil which almost immediately rebounded throwing fragments and paper high into the air before the impact explosion could reach them, leaving much of the wreckage untouched by fire. Unburnt paper flew everywhere as small aircraft fuel fires burned on the ground.
No one survived the crash. The human remains were in very small pieces, the largest of which were feet in shoes. The force of the impact caused such extensive damage that 27 of the passengers were never identified.
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