August 27, 2025 – Merced County Sheriff's Office officials report that at around 7:02 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the Sheriff's Office was notified of a plane crash south of Los Banos. Our Deputies, along with emergency personnel, responded to the area and located a small private plane that had crashed. At this time, it is believed that there was one occupant inside the plane who was found deceased, and they have not been identified at this time.

The aircraft took off from a small airport near San Jose at an unknown time. We are currently coordinating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration, which will be conducting the plane crash investigation.

We'll provide updates with more information as soon as it becomes available.

Source: Merced County Sheriff's Office