The plane was landing in the early evening when it crashed through the barrier at the end of the runway. It skidded across Hollywood Way and crashed into a car with a woman and a four-year-old inside. Neither was hurt. The pilot suffered cuts to his head, and four passengers and one crew member were injured.
Passers-by ran for cover and drivers abandoned cars and sprinted out of the way as it became clear that the plane, which had 6,000lb of fuel on board, was unable to stop.
As passengers emerged from an emergency chute they hugged each other and wept. One, Kevin McCoy, said: "They told us it might be a rough landing." Another described the noise of the crash as like two trains colliding. They had been told to expect a "bumpy ride" when they set off late from Las Vegas.
A spokesman for the federal aviation administration said: "It's too early to tell [the cause], except perhaps that he [the pilot] landed too long."
Officials were at the scene last night as attempts were made to move the plane and restart traffic.
The crash followed the worst storms to hit the area this year, bringing widespread flooding.
