A small aircraft crashed in a large San Diego military neighborhood Thursday morning, setting several homes and vehicles on fire.
The aircraft, a Cessna 550, crashed at around 3:45 a.m. in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood, leaving a path of destruction in its midst.
Officials said that there were “multiple fatalities” and that nobody on the ground was seriously injured. The plane can carry six to eight people, although investigators said they are still trying to determine how many people were on board.
TWO PLANES DO ‘GO-AROUNDS’ TO AVOID MILITARY HELICOPTER NEAR REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT
“We have jet fuel all over the place,” Assistant Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy said during a news conference. “Our main goal is to search all these homes and get everybody out right now.”
He said there was a “direct hit to multiple homes” and described “a gigantic debris field” in an area of densely populated homes and sweeping canyon views.
Nearly 100 residents have been displaced in what Naval Base San Diego Capt. Bob Healy described as “one of the largest military housing areas in the world.”
Initial reports say that the plane hit a pole, losing its wing, then crashed into a home, sending debris airborne. Officials said that 15 homes were impacted by the crash. The plane originated from the Midwest.
PILOT KILLED AFTER SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD
Video footage shows one house badly damaged by fire. At least three cars were seen burned in the driveway and the roof was partially collapsed.
Debris from the aircraft was seen strewn along a nearby road and several other cars on the road were also charred and mangled and could be seen still smoldering hours later as the morning sky brightened.
“We had one stubborn car fire that wouldn’t go out, but the house fires have been knocked down,” Eddy said. “Every car on both sides of the street caught fire due to jet fuel. Multiple homes were destroyed.”
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described the catastrophic scenes.
“I can’t quite put words to describe what this scene looks like but with the jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see,” Wahl said. “For the police officers and firefighters to run in there, start trying to evacuate people out of the way and doing anything and everything they could to try to save somebody’s life is really heroic.”
The crash site is close to the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, a smaller airport on the north side of the city. The crash drew a large police and fire response with first responders going from house to house to check on residents.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the plane to crash.
One witness said he heard several loud booms followed by fires.
“You look out the window, you just see big flames… So big flames, flames everywhere,” he told Fox 2 KTVU.
Multiple roads were cordoned off and will remain closed off for several hours, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate, the FAA said in a statement. The NSTB will lead the investigation and provide any updates, the FAA said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article here
