The Murphy Canyon community was trying to ease normalcy on Friday after a small plane crashed the neighborhood.
Families living in San Diego’s military housing community sent their students back to Miller and Hancock Elementary School school the day after their cancelled classes. Still, it was impossible to avoid a reminder of a Cessna 550 jet crash in the neighborhood as federal agents infiltrated the area the day before to determine what caused the plane to drop.
The National Transportation Commission said Friday that the weather warning system at Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport and the airport’s runway lighting were not working when the pilot tried to land just before 4am to see if it was a factor in the crash of the plane. The plane also lacked flight data recorders, and investigators were still working to determine whether they were still equipped with a cockpit voice recorder.
The NTSB said the preliminary investigation will not be released for weeks.
Investigators said the private jet was preparing to land with six people when it struck a high-tensile power line just before 4am Thursday in foggy weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration later confirmed that the weather observation system had stopped working a few days ago. The FAA said the airport control tower was unmanned, which is not uncommon, and pilots were instead sent by radio to Miramar Airport about four miles away for weather forecasts, NTSB said.
The wireless communication obtained by NBC 7 between Miramar air traffic controllers and pilots explains weather conditions at two nearby airports. The pilot then decides to land in Montgomery and says, “It doesn’t sound great, but I’ll give it a try.”
When it comes to runningway lighting, the planes could have been too far from the airport to make an impact, said Jim Kidrick, president and CEO of the San Diego Aerospace Museum.
The radio transmission from the final moments of the flight provides insight into the weather conditions faced by pilots and what it would be like to land at the executive airport in Montgomery Gibbs. NBC 7 Todd stock reports.
The flight began at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, then stopped in Witchita, Kansas, and continued to San Diego, where the plane attacked the house along the way, crashing into the middle of the street, sending a stream of jet fuel down the street. At least 10 homes and several more vehicles were damaged.
Passengers included Dave Shapiro, co-founder of Music Talent Agency Sound Talent Group, and two other employees. FAA records show that Shapiro was a registered pilot, flight instructor and ground instructor. It is not clear if Shapiro was in control when the plane went down.
A spokesman for the Sound Talent Group on Friday identified the two other employees as San Diego State University alumni and booking assistant at the music talent agency, as well as 25-year-old Emma Houk, also known as booking assistants.
On Friday, the San Diego Medical Inspector’s office officially appointed three victims, including Shapiro and Huke. Another name was 36-year-old professional photographer Celina Kenyon.
In an investigation into NBC 7 San Diego, one of the crash-fallen victims appeared to be Shapiro’s friend Daniel Williams and the drummer Daniel Williams of The Band the Band. Before taking off, Williams posted several photos on Instagram, inside and outside of the jet that would later crash. His band posted a message in his memory, writing, “No words. We owe everything to you. We love you forever.”
Dominique Damien, the sixth person believed to be on a plane, has also been friends with Shapiro for many years. According to his LinkedIn page, he worked as a software engineer at the time of his death. His social media pages also show his passion for jiu-jitsu. The Pacific Beach Gym, where he attended, is holding a memory event for him on Memorial Day.
So far, what I’ve learned about the victims.
The photo shows the plane before takeoff posted on social media by musician Daniel Williams.
FAA officials said six people were on board, but have yet to confirm how many people were killed in the crash of the plane. The NTSB said it does not believe there are survivors.
The area near the streets of salmon and sample remained littered with debris. Burnt vehicles covered in streets, wings on the side of the road, debris from planes under the power line and fragments of the body as sampled.
“There are planes everywhere. Our debris fields are very large. So there are multiple blocks that are currently blocked,” SDFD assistant chief Dan Eddie said Thursday. “As you all expect, when there’s something very big at that amount of speed, you’ll have many throws going in all directions.”
Police persecuted the roads and patrol neighborhoods to save scenes of federal agents present in the neighborhood for at least two to three days to remove the plane and move it to an air hangar and then to further investigate the air hangar.
At least eight people on the ground suffered minor injuries, such as inhaling smoke, while attempting to evacuate. Eddie said everything was handled at Miller Elementary School and served as an evacuation centre for around 100 residents who were forced to leave the house after crash.
Aliya Waterworth was one of them. She said she saw a huge fireball outside after awakening to “Hooshing Sound.” One of the family’s cars was “completely collapsed” and the other car caused great damage. Her garden was littered with plane parts, broken glass and shards.
Videos filmed by Navy service maker Gilbert Gonzalez showed neighbors desperately door-to-door visits to help people and pets evacuate.
Jasmine, a resident who refused to use her last name, told NBC 7 that the crash of the plane happened just outside her home, causing the house to shake up. She quickly left to warn her neighbors. That’s when she hears scream behind her screaming that she can’t leave.
“I cried to my son, and yelled to grab the ladder.
Video captured with David Nero’s ring camera shows a ball of fire from impact, the moment after the crash.
Authorities often joined forces to evacuate the military community before the first responders arrived, often before they joined in to evacuate their neighbors from the scene.
“I can’t praise them enough for what they did on the ground,” Eddie said. “It’s a bit of a miracle for me, right? The plane crashes into your home – I don’t know exactly how they came out, but I know my neighbors helped them out,” Eddie said. “And that’s the beauty of what I love in this neighborhood, military, military, looking for each other.”
The neighborhood consists of detached houses and townhomes.
The roof of one house was black and collapsed, with white metal sitting on the street in front of it. Half a dozen fully carbonized cars sat on the street, wooden limbs, glass, and fragments of white and blue metal scattered across the road. At the end of the street, the site continued to burn, causing a huge wave of black smoke.
Federal officials were expected to remove some of the plane on Friday and complete the task on Saturday. The city of San Diego will work with Lincoln Housing, a group that manages housing for service members in the Murphy Canyon area on behalf of the military, to begin cleaning the neighborhood.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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