A single-engine plane crashed near a remote Kern County airport and exploded into flames, killing a family of six, authorities said. The family had flown from Santa Monica Airport to Kern Valley Airport, where the plane crashed Friday upon approach, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The Lancair Columbia was consumed in a grassfire sparked by the crash, reported shortly after 5:40 p.m., but the one-acre blaze was quickly contained, Kern County Fire Department Capt. Tommy Brown said.

All six people aboard, including at least one infant, were killed, Gregor said. The family had been headed to Kern County for a camping trip, he said. Their names were not immediately released.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were handling the investigation into the cause of the crash.

"Witnesses said the aircraft appeared to stall, but that's preliminary," Gregor said.