A small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing multiple people and leaving a trail of torched debris. Here's how the tragedy unfolded
The pilot of the plane, a Cessna 550 business jet, had just told air traffic controllers that although the weather wasn't good they would continue with landing, according to air traffic control audio recorded by LiveATC.net.
'I just want to see what I'm in for here,' the pilot told a controller when asking about weather conditions at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. The controller reported poor conditions – visibility of a half mile and a cloud ceiling of 200 feet.
'All right, that doesn't sound great but we'll give it a go,' the pilot responded.
Roughly half an hour after that exchange, the plane crashed.
There was no sign of any problem, and no emergency was declared.
Six people were onboard the flight, officials said, and when asked if anyone on the plane survived, San Diego Fire Assistant Chief Dan Eddy answered: 'I don't know on that point, but no, I don't believe so.'
At least two people were confirmed dead, according to the San Diego Police Department. Eight people in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood – a military housing community – were injured, including two treated for minor injuries at the scene and six others who received medical attention, police said.
Responding fire crews and police officers sprinted through thick fog in a race against the encroaching flames. After hitting the power line the plane slammed into a home and left a trail of debris along the street, spilling fuel that sparked a chain of fires.
Firefighters went door to door, urgently evacuating residents – parents clutching infants, families half-asleep.
One resident told CNN affiliate KFMB they were jolted awake by a thunderous boom, looked outside, and saw a 'fireball going down the street.' As his wife grabbed their dogs and children, he ran to help evacuate the family whose home was directly struck by the plane.
'I ended up grabbing two of the kids over the fence, took them over to the neighbors, came back, we grabbed the ladder, got the wife out, got the two dogs out, got the husband out.'
Another resident told KFMB the moment he opened his door, he saw his neighbor's car explode.
'First thing I do is run upstairs, grab my children, my wife and I'm in my underwear. I just walk out,' he said. 'We ended up helping a few neighbors get out. That's all that we could do'
The destruction stretched for at least a quarter mile down the residential street, where several cars caught fire and others several blocks away from the main crash site were damaged.
'I woke up to what I thought was an earthquake,' a nearby neighbor told CNN affiliate KCBS/KCAL. 'My kids woke up as well, they looked out the window and started screaming. My whole front area was on fire. We were trapped in our home and couldn't get out.'
Later Thursday, as the full scale of damage came into view, officials inspected the skeleton of a home, ravaged by the plane's impact, which gouged a hole in its side and crushed the roof onto a car beneath. The thick stench of jet fuel hung in the air as crews combed the wreckage for possible clues to the cause of the crash. Between the charred remains of vehicles laid a yellow body bag, a somber reminder of the tragedy's toll.
It's a 'miracle' none of the fatalities involved residents in the neighborhood, Eddy, the assistant fire chief, said.
'When I was coming on scene, I did not expect that same outcome as I got here,' he said. 'I don't know exactly how they got out, but I do know that neighbors helped them get out, and that's the beauty of what I love in this neighborhood. Military looking out for one another. They did exactly what they did to try to help each other.'
Music agency Sound Talent Group said three of its employees, including David Shapiro, one of its co-founders, died in the crash, the Associated Press reported Thursday. The agency did not name the two other employees who died. CNN reached out to Sound Talent Group for more information.
Shapiro represented some of the most well-known international hard rock, punk and indie bands.
'We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dave Shapiro and his two colleagues,' a spokesperson for the National Independent Talent Organization, a trade organization that represents independent talent agencies and managers across the country, told CNN in a statement. 'Dave was a visionary in the music industry,' the statement said.
Shapiro, who had a pilot's license, owned the aircraft under a company named 'Daviator LLC,' according to FAA records.
Scott Wahl, San Diego police chief, said he was struggling to describe the scene his crews encountered when they arrived.
'I can't quite put words to describe what this scene looked like but with the jet fuel running down the streets and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see,' he said during a news conference.
Footage from the immediate aftermath captured mothers and fathers clutching children on their hips, running through the mist of water dousing the flames, while frightened dogs scrambled alongside them.
The San Diego Humane Society has taken in 36 pets, including dogs, at least one cat, 5 geckos and a 20 gallon fish tank for emergency boarding from families impacted by the crash, it said on social media. The organization's medical team gave several animals decontamination baths to clean off jet fuel.
The National Transportation Safety Board is on scene documenting the crash site and plans to recover the airplane to a secure location on Saturday, said Eliott Simpson, a senior aviation accident investigator. This aircraft likely has a flight data recorder and possibly a cockpit voice recorder, he said.
The jet departed from Teterboro, New Jersey, Wednesday night at about 11:15 p.m., making a fuel stop in Wichita, Kansas, before crashing, according to Simpson.
A preliminary report will be published on the NTSB website in about two weeks and a final report will be released in about 12-18 months.
'I feel for the families of those on the plane and what they're going through right now,' Eddy said during Thursday's news conference.
'It's tragic to see [the wreckage] … whether you're involved or not, just normal citizens that are here, they're going to remember this the rest of their lives.'
CNN's Chelsea Bailey, Aaron Cooper, Pete Muntean, Stephanie Elam, and Matthew J. Friedman contributed to this report.
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