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SAN DIEGO – A private jet flying in thick fog crashed into a San Diego neighborhood early Thursday morning, killing at least three people, scorching several homes, smashing dozens of vehicles and evacuating almost 100 people.
Federal officials say the only people known to have been killed in the collision were on an aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that six people were on the plane Thursday afternoon. At a previous press conference, San Diego Fire Department assistant Dan Eddie said he doesn’t believe the aircraft residents survived.
A spokesman for Sound Talent Group, a San Diego County-based music agency, confirmed that the company lost three employees in the crash, including Dave Shapiro, the group’s co-founder. No other employees were named.
Daniel Williams, former drummer of metal band The Devil Wears Prada, posted on Instagram on Wednesday afternoon that he was on a plane with Shapiro. The band later posted a homage to Williams with the caption, “No words. We owe you everything. We love you forever.” When asked about Williams’ death, band representatives introduced Associated Press reporters to the Social Post.
In a statement, Sound Talent Group said: “We are devastated by the loss of our co-founders, colleagues and friends. Our hearts are directed at our families and everyone affected by today’s tragedy. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this moment.”
The Cessna 550 Jet, which can accommodate up to 10 people, has been registered with Daviator, a company based in Homer, Alaska, according to FAA records. The company’s registered agent, Shapiro, is a certified flight instructor and airline transport pilot.
According to Eddy, the business jet crashed into a military housing community in the Murphy Canyon area just before 4am Thursday. Authorities have not yet said exactly how many aircraft residents were killed, but have confirmed that the crashed residents were not killed.
“The crew arrived at the scene and found multiple homes and cars on fire,” Eddie said at a press conference. Firefighters were able to suppress the flames, but at least 10 homes were severely damaged and at least a dozen vehicles remained completely broken, he said, according to video on the scene.
At least eight residents were minor injuries, Eddie said. One was taken to the hospital, while others were treated at a nearby evacuation centre.
“There are planes everywhere,” Eddie says, calling the scene a “field of giant shards.”
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The smell of jet fuel and burnt wood was overwhelmed by Murphy Canyon and blocked hours after leaving the crash. One family home had a huge burnt hole on one side, and the nearby cars were almost completely flat.
However, the damage to the neighborhood was sporadic.
On one side of the street, the house was burnt. But just halfway through, the lot looked untouched.
Nearby, what was a parked sedan was now burned beyond recognition. The hood and all four doors were blown away. In another section of the road that appears to be undamaged, the back of the Honda Accord was completely melted by the flame, and its metal dripped into a puddle on the ground.
Young residents riding scooters through the neighborhood looked confused by the scattered damage. “What did you think of it from there?” he asked himself.
Another resident described the impact of the plane as being earthquake-like. He says he has heard of a big boom and as he goes outside he sees the plane and the fire and wreckage around it.
“We can’t post any words to describe what this scene looks like, jet fuel is down the street and everything is on fire at once,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wall. “That was pretty scary.”
City Councilman Raul Campillo, who represents the neighborhood, said he met several of the military families who had been evacuated in extremely challenging circumstances with the help of each other.
“I’ve heard stories… military families are driving military families out of their homes, jumping out of the windows, avoiding fire,” Campillo said. “I know there were a lot of miracles and a lot of heroic actions.”
Whar said nearly 100 people have been evacuated due to crash crashes and the area remains closed for investigation and cleaning. An evacuation center has been set up at Hancock Elementary School.
Several people who spoke with the Times described the community as close-knit because of the shared military relationships of residents. One man who was evacuated with three young children from Sample Street said he felt that his neighbor was “all family” even though he didn’t know everyone in development.
Residents told the Times that they didn’t give them a timeline on when authorities could return home.
Private planes stopped at just an hour in Wichita, Kansas, around 11:15pm Eastern time on Wednesday at just an hour, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. It is located within three miles of the crash site, heading to Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport, a general aviation airport owned by the city of San Diego.
3:40am on Thursday, the pilot announced on radio that the plane was three miles away after landing on Runway 28, according to a recording on Liveatc.net. The pilot did not show any aircraft problems and did not issue a distress call in recordings reviewed by The Times.
The crash was reported at 3:47am
The National Transportation Safety Board had arrived by Thursday afternoon to investigate with the FAA.
Eliott Simpson, a senior aviation accident investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board, did not comment on the possible causes of the crash, and instead saw the power line that the plane first hit and was damaged from about two miles from where the crash fell to his home. He said the jets were flying in “very poor weather conditions.”
The thick fog tumbled into the area as the plane approached the airport. Visibility fell to 0.55 miles at 3:55am, falling a quarter mile in the area around Miramar, the Marine Corps Aviation Administration, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re not a fan of the world,” said Adam Roser, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. “This crept into the valley from the sea, leading to some of those misty conditions.”
Experts say investigators are probably scrutinizing several aspects of the flight to determine the cause of the crash, including weather conditions, potential pilot fatigue, and whether the plane’s navigation AIDS is working.
“We are pleased to announce that we are a great opportunity to help our customers,” said Thomas Anthony, director of USC’s Aviation Security Program. “It’s always a combination of multiple risks.”
The executive airport’s control tower was not staffed at the time the flight was approaching, so separation from other aircraft was being handled by Southern California’s approach control, Anthony said. He downplayed the issues that could have been caused by a shortage of personnel, given the flights routinely taking off and landing overnight hours when the towers are closed. At this point, weather and time are probably key factors in the investigation, Anthony said.
“If you’re starting from Teterboro and landing in Wichita for gas, the question is how long the pilot is awake,” Anthony said. “This is an important issue because fatigue is one of the human factors that reduce safety margins. Fatigue erodes decision-making capabilities and is less likely to communicate or communicate well.”
“At 3:47am there’s a kind of self-induced pressure to make it work or get to where you want to go,” he added.
Given the low visibility near the airport, experts say the pilots probably operated under the flight rules of instruments to comply with certain regulations that allow pilots to use equipment to navigate and control aircraft in low visibility conditions. “They’re making the most of the time,” said Robert L. Ditchy, a former Navy pilot and aviation consultant. “It happens every day around the world.”
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