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By Lookout Staff

September 4 -- Six members of a Santa Monica family flying to a weekend camping trip died Friday when their plane crashed near the Kern Valley Airport.

A family member on Saturday identified the crash victims as Adam Pasori, the pilot, 56; his wife Sibel; his brother, David Pasori; his sister Mila Kuygusuzults and Kuygusuz's two daughters, Meriem, 2, and Nasrin, 5 months.

The two brothers were in the property management and development business, according to family members.

Adam Pasori was the property manager for 125 Pacific LLC in Santa Monica, the company vying to tear down a 24-unit apartment complex near the beach and build a nine-unit, multi-story structure, according to press reports.

The single-engine Lancair Columbia aircraft departed from Santa Monica Airport at 4:20 p.m. Friday and was attempting to land on a runway at the Kern Valley Airport before 6 p.m. when it crashed, according to Jeltje Nelson, the Kern Valley Airport manager.

The plane was flying too high to land and made a 180 degree left turn to try again, when the engine stalled and the plane crashed into a field and was engulfed in flames, according to officials for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NTSB is still investigating what caused the plane to crash.

“I heard ‘pop pop’ and that’s it,” Nelson told the press. “Sounded like gun shots.”

The family members decided to fly up for the long holiday weekend to the lake area near Bakersfield, according to Sal Yaman, Adam Pasori’s nephew.