Several people on a private plane died when it crashed into a military housing neighborhood in San Diego early Thursday during thick fog, but no one on the ground was hurt, officials said.
The plane could carry eight to ten people, but it’s still unclear how many were aboard, said Assistant San Diego Fire Chief Dan Eddy during a press briefing. Investigators will look into whether the aircraft hit a power line, he added.
The crash happened just before 4 a.m. in the largest military housing area in the U.S. The plane appeared to strike at least one house, burning and collapsing its roof, and damaging about ten homes along with several vehicles. No one inside the homes needed to be taken to the hospital.
Officials have not yet shared full details about the plane but confirmed it was coming from the Midwest. Flight tracking site FlightAware showed a Cessna Citation II jet scheduled to land at San Diego’s Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport at 3:47 a.m. from Wichita, Kansas. The plane had made a fuel stop there. The flight originally departed from Teterboro, New Jersey, on Wednesday night.
Teterboro Airport is located about six miles from Manhattan and is often used by private and business aircraft.
Hours after the crash, the smell of jet fuel still filled the area as emergency workers tried to put out a car fire. Authorities described the aftermath as intense and frightening.
“I can’t quite put words to describe what the 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,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
Several cars were completely burned, and tree branches, shattered glass, and parts of the plane were spread across the street. Thick black smoke continued to rise from the crash site.
Wahl said over 50 police officers quickly arrived and began evacuating homes. Around 100 people were moved to a nearby elementary school for shelter.
Authorities work the scene where a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing evacuations along several blocks earlyChristopher Moore, who lives near the crash site, said he and his wife woke up to a loud explosion and saw smoke outside. They grabbed their two kids and rushed out. On the way out, they passed a car on fire.
“It was definitely horrifying for sure, but sometimes you’ve just got to drop your head and get to safety,” he said.
Police saved three husky puppies from one of the homes and moved them in a wagon away from the crash area. A few blocks away, families including Moore’s stood in their pajamas, waiting in a parking lot for updates on when they could return home.
The neighborhood consists of single-family homes and townhouses. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, and Gillespie Field are close by.
Eddy said visibility was very low due to fog at the time of the crash. “You could barely see in front of you,” he noted.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation.
In October 2021, a twin-engine plane crashed in a San Diego suburb, killing both the pilot and a UPS driver and setting homes on fire. It had been trying to land at the airport.
In December 2008, a Marine Corps jet crashed into a house in San Diego’s University City area, causing an explosion that killed four people. That crash was blamed on mechanical problems and human error.