All six people killed in San Diego plane crash identified: ‘Devastated beyond words'

7NEWS

25-05-2025

All six of the people killed in a small plane crash in San Diego on Thursday have been identified by their family members and friends.
The Cessna Citation small jet crashed just before 4am, leaving no survivors, National Transportation Safety Board Investigator-in-Charge Dan Baker said Friday in a news conference.
Among the victims was Daniel Williams, 39, a drummer for the band The Devil Wears Prada, his father, Larry Williams, confirmed to TMZ. Williams had posted an image from the jet's cockpit on his Instagram story on Wednesday, shortly before takeoff.
The band posted a photo tribute to him on their Instagram account on Thursday.
'No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever,' the band wrote.
The Cessna left Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, just outside New York City, at 11:15pm Wednesday, authorities have said.
Hours later, the plane struck high-tension power lines on approach to the runway at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego and crashed, Baker said.
The impact destroyed multiple homes and ignited fires in several cars. There were no serious injuries to anyone on the ground, Baker said.
Sound Talent Group said on Friday that co-founder Dave Shapiro and two others employees, Kendall Fortner and Emma Lynn Huke, died in the crash.
'We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends,' Sound Talent Group said in a statement. 'Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today's tragedy.'
Shapiro, 42, led an impressive roster of artists, including Vanessa Carlton, Pierce The Veil, Lamb of God, I Prevail, Sum 41 and Hanson, according to the music group's website.
'No one could say a bad word about him. He was just a beautiful beautiful guy,' Lionel Conway, a friend of Shapiro, told the TODAY Show on Friday.
Celina Kenyon's family said in a statement Friday that the 36-year-old died in the plane crash while returning from a trip to photograph and support friends.
'Celina was an amazing mother, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, partner and friend,' her family said in a statement to NBC San Diego.
'She decided to fly home to San Diego with other crew and friends on a late night private flight rather than a commercial flight so she could get home early to take her daughter to school,' the family said.
'Our family is devastated beyond words,' they said. 'The world has lost a beautiful bright light.'
The sixth victim was identified as 41 year old Dominic Damian, his father, David Damian, told NBC News on Saturday. Damian was a software engineer who lived in San Diego, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The San Diego County Department of the Medical Examiner had identified only three of the dead by Saturday afternoon.
Authorities have not said who was flying the aircraft.
The pilot didn't report any problems to air traffic control to the airport and did not declare an emergency before the crash, Baker said.
An automated system at the airport that gives weather information was out because of a unrelated power surge, but air traffic control reported to the pilot that the weather at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was calm winds with one-half-mile visibility and a 200-foot ceiling, Baker said.
There were notices to pilots in effect that the runway 'precision approach path indicator' and the 'medium intensity approach light system with runway alignment indicator lights' were not in service at the time.
A cause of the crash has not been determined and it is under investigation, he said.
The plane did not have a flight data recorder, and investigators are trying to determine whether it was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, Baker said.