Six feared dead after small jet crashes in San Diego

Six people were feared to have died after a small jet they were in flew through dense fog and crashed in a residential San Diego neighborhood early Thursday morning, injuring eight others on the ground and damaging 10 homes, officials said.

The jet, a Cessna Citation, crashed in Murphy Canyon near the Tierrasanta neighborhood just before 4 am, forcing the evacuation of about 100 people as flames billowed, the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.

At a news conference earlier Thursday, Dan Eddy, San Diego’s assistant fire chief, said that at least two people who were on the plane had died and that he did not believe there would be any survivors. The Federal Aviation Administration said later Thursday that there had been six people aboard the plane.

Dave Shapiro, 42, a veteran music agent and pilot who appeared to have a stake in the plane, was killed in the crash, according to the Sound Talent Group, the company he co-founded.

It was not immediately clear who was flying the plane. The agency represents dozens of music groups, including Jefferson Starship and Hanson.

A spokesperson for the agency said in a statement that the company was “devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends.”

Daniel Williams, 39, a former drummer for the band the Devil Wears Prada, was feared to have died in the crash.

In an Instagram story posted Wednesday night, Williams shared an image of the plane on the tarmac before the flight and wrote that he was “flying back” with Shapiro. He shared two more images of himself seated in the cockpit.

His former band paid tribute to Williams on Facebook on Thursday.

“No words,” the group wrote. “We owe you everything. Love you forever.”

Officials had not yet released the names of the people who were killed in the crash. The San Diego County medical examiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

When officials arrived at the crash site Thursday morning, cars, lawns and several homes were on fire, and the time of the call — just before 4 a.m. — meant that many people were still asleep.

“I can’t quite put words to describe what the scene looked like with the jet fuel running down the streets and everything on fire all at once,” said Scott Wahl, the San Diego police chief. “It was pretty horrific to see.”

Officials did not immediately say what had caused the crash. There was a dense fog in the San Diego area in the early morning hours, and Eddy confirmed that a main power line had been hit.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

As the plane was approaching Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, the pilot asked an air traffic controller how limited the visibility was there, according to an audio transmission.

An automated system that gives pilots updates on the weather was out of service at the airport at the time, which the pilot and controller discussed.

The air traffic controller told the pilot that the visibility was about a half-mile and the ceiling was about 200 feet for Miramar, California, which is about 10 miles north of where the crash happened.

“All right, that doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot responded.

The residential neighborhood is home to many military families, according to Robert Heely, the commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego. Toys, bikes and garden beds litter the lawns. On Thursday, some strollers and patio furniture were singed or covered in soot.

Julie Marconi, a young mother of two children, said that a neighbor came to wake her up about 15 minutes after the crash.

“My neighbor’s husband came over and helped me grab the kids and the diapers, and we just ran,” Marconi said as she stood behind the yellow tape on Santo Road, half a mile from the crash site. “We live one street over from Sculpin, and I can’t believe that a plane crashed on a quiet little street. If it weren’t for my neighbors, I don’t know what I would do.”

Emergency responders were relieved to see that story play out across the neighborhood. Fast-acting families had jumped to action to wake up and help evacuate their neighbors. Remarkably, there were no serious injuries or deaths among those who live near the crash.

Cynthia Schmitz, 33, a resident of the Tierrasanta neighborhood, woke up to the crash.

“All we heard was the loud engine screeching noise, a loud boom — and the sky lit up,” she said. She quickly realised that it had been a small plane crash, Schmitz, who is in the Navy, said.

“We see planes go over our house all the time,” she said, “so I figured that’s what it was.”

About 100 residents were evacuated Thursday morning. Several blocks remain closed to traffic as debris is scattered on roofs, lawns and streets.

Burned cars littered the area, and firefighters were struggling to extinguish a car on fire about four hours after the crash.

The plane had been trying to land at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, across a highway from where it crashed. It had departed from Teterboro, New Jersey, late Wednesday with a layover at Col. James Jabara Airport in Wichita, Kansas, before flying toward San Diego, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking database.

The plane was built in 1985 and owned by Daviator, a limited liability company registered in Alaska, according to public records. Its name appeared to be a portmanteau of Shapiro’s given name, Dave, and aviator. The FAA classified the company as a fractional ownership business, a popular arrangement in the aviation sector that allows people to buy a portion of a private plane.

Josiah Tavares woke up to the sound of his mother-in-law yelling “fire.”

“I run downstairs, look outside, and the whole street is on fire; cars are on fire,” Tavares said. “It looks like there is debris all over the place.”

Tavares gathered his family and was getting ready to make an escape over his backyard fence before a neighbor came to his front door saying there was a safe path through the street.

“So we’re running out the house trying to get up the street following emergency services,” he said, adding that they had heard what sounded like cars exploding.

Tavares was at an evacuation center that had been set up Thursday afternoon. He said he believed his house was spared major damage. Tavares said people in the neighborhood had rallied to support one another.

“The community is really coming together here, and it’s beautiful,” he said.