Latest news with #militaryhousing
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Britain to spend an extra $2 billion on armed forces' housing
LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - Britain said on Saturday it would spend an extra 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) to tackle the poor state of housing for the country's armed forces, helping to support recruitment, retention and morale. The spending will be included in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), a 10-year plan to transform Britain's defences, the government said on Saturday. The SDR is expected to be published on Monday. The money will fund urgent repairs and maintenance, from fixing boilers to tackling damp and mould in service family accommodation, alongside developing new housing, the government said. A report by parliament's Defence Committee last December concluded that the accommodation was "shocking" and could result in service personnel quitting the forces. "For too long, many military families have lived in sub-standard homes, but this government is taking decisive action to fix the dire state of military accommodation and ensure that our heroes and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve," Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement. The extra funds mean more than 7 billion pounds will be spent on service family accommodation and new-build single accommodation during the period to 2029, the government said. ($1 = 0.7422 pounds)
Fox News
23-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
2 dead, 8 injured after plane from NJ carrying 6 makes fiery crash in San Diego military neighborhood: police
A small aircraft crashed in a large San Diego military neighborhood Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring eight others, police said. The aircraft, a Cessna 550 Citation business jet, crashed around 3:45 a.m. in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood, igniting multiple homes and cars in flames. It was carrying six people, whose current conditions are unknown, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The flight originated at Teterboro, New Jersey. After making a stop in Wichita, Kansas, it appeared to have been inbound to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. Officials said about 100 residents were displaced; Liberty Military Housing and the Red Cross are assisting in finding immediate accommodations. The FAA is analyzing the scene and eight National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials are en route. Firefighters who arrived at the scene first initiated a quick attack, working with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) to evacuate homes and knock down fires. Naval Base San Diego Capt. Bob Healy described the neighborhood 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. "We have jet fuel all over the place," San Diego Fire Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said during a news conference. Eddy 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. 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. "When [the plane] hit the street, as the jet fuel went down, it took out every single car," Eddy said. "Every single car was burning on both sides of the street." Officials said military families helped each other escape homes and jump out of windows, preventing additional injuries and fatalities. None of those injured had to be taken to the hospital from the scene. 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 house-to-house to check on residents. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the plane to crash. As of 11:30 a.m. local time, San Diego Police Department Lt. Travis Easter said the scene was "still active" and roads would remain closed. 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 as jet fuel rushed down the street, officials said. The FAA and NTSB will investigate, the FAA said in a statement. The NSTB will lead the investigation and provide any updates, the FAA said.
CBC
22-05-2025
- CBC
At least 2 dead after private jet crashes in San Diego neighbourhood
Two people died and multiple others were injured when a private jet crashed into military housing in San Diego during foggy weather early Thursday, igniting cars parked along a suburban neighbourhood block, authorities said. The plane could hold eight to 10 people but it's not yet known how many were on the aircraft, Assistant San Diego Fire Chief Dan Eddy said at a news conference. Authorities couldn't say definitively if both of the dead were on the plane. The aircraft crashed just before 4 a.m. local time into the U.S. military's largest housing neighbourhood. It appeared to strike at least one home that had a charred and collapsed roof and smash through half a dozen vehicles. About 10 homes suffered damage. Authorities initially said no one was transported by emergency crews from the military housing. But after a morning news conference, San Diego police officer Anthony Carrasco said five people from a single family were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Another person was treated at a hospital for injuries sustained while climbing out of a window trying to flee. Two others were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Carrasco said. San Diego officials haven't released details about the plane but said it was a flight from the Midwest. The flight tracking site FlightAware lists a Cessna Citation II jet scheduled to arrive at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive airport in San Diego at 3:47 a.m. from the small Colonel James Jabara Airport in Wichita, Kan. Officials at the Kansas airport said it made a fuelling stop in Wichita. The flight originated Wednesday night in Teterboro, N.J., according to FlightAware. The airport in Teterboro is about 10 kilometres from Manhattan and is frequently used by private and corporate jets. In the San Diego neighbourhood, the smell of jet fuel lingered in the air hours after the crash while authorities worked to extinguish one stubborn car fire. They described a frightening scene in the aftermath of the crash. 'Pretty horrific to see': police chief "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," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. Chunks of metal from the aircraft littered the street, but no discernible body of the plane could be seen. Half a dozen fully charred cars sat on the street, and tree limbs, melted trash cans, glass and pieces of white and blue metal were scattered around. At the end of the block, black smoke billowed as a car continued to smolder while water mixed with jet fuel flowed down the street. Wahl said more than 50 police officers were on the scene within minutes and began evacuating homes. At least 100 residents were displaced to an evacuation centre at a nearby elementary school. Christopher Moore, who lives one street over from the crash site, said he and his wife were awakened by a loud bang. He saw smoke out the window. They grabbed their three young boys and ran out of the house. On their way out of the neighbourhood, they saw a car engulfed in flames. "It was definitely horrifying for sure, but sometimes you've just got to drop your head and get to safety," he said. Police officers were rescuing multiple animals, including three husky puppies that were rolled away from the crash scene in a wagon. A few blocks away, families, including Moore's, stood in their pyjamas in a parking lot waiting for word of when they could return to their homes. Ariya Waterworth, who lives across the street from the crash site, said she woke up to a "whooshing sound" and then saw a giant fireball outside. Firefighters were on the scene quickly and she screamed for help, evacuating her dog and two kids. One of the family's cars was "completely disintegrated," and the other had extensive damage. Her yard was littered with plane parts, broken glass and debris. Despite the destruction, Waterworth said she feels lucky to be alive. "I definitely do feel blessed because we've been spared," she said. The neighbourhood is made up of single-family homes and townhomes. Montgomery-Gibbs airport is about three kilometres away. Eddy said it was very foggy at the time the private plane crashed. "You could barely see in front of you," he said. Officials were looking into whether the plane clipped a power line before crashing into the neighbourhood on land owned by the U.S. Navy.
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Multiple people dead after business jet crashes in San Diego neighbourhood, US officials say
By Chelsea Bailey, Aaron Cooper, Pete Muntean, Alaa Elassar, Stephanie Elam, Matthew J. Friedman, CNN Firefighters work the site where a small plane crashed into a San Diego, California, residential street on May 22, 2025. Photo: AFP/SANDY HUFFAKER Hours after an aircraft slammed into a San Diego neighbourhood, the smell of jet fuel remained thick in the air as investigators scoured the area for clues to uncover what caused the plane to crash, killing multiple people. The business jet careened into homes in a San Diego military housing community just before 4am Thursday (US time), authorities said. The debris field is at least a quarter mile long, and jet fuel rained down the residential street, igniting several cars and damaging others as far as several blocks away from the main crash site. Hours later, the sun rose over charred ruins of a home badly damaged from the plane, which gouged a hole in the side of the house and collapsed the roof onto a car below. At least two people have died and eight others were injured, according to the San Diego Police Department. It is unclear how many people were onboard the jet, but all the fatalities appear to be from the plane, San Diego Fire Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said during a press conference on Thursday. The FAA is working to confirm how many people were registered to be travelling on the the aircraft. First responders quickly rushed to quell the flames as residents helped evacuate their neighbours from the homes, authorities said. The home directly impacted by the plane had been occupied at the time of the crash, but neighbours helped the family to evacuate, Eddy said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. "For me it's a little bit of a miracle," he said. "I do know neighbours helped them get out and that's the beauty of what I love in this neighbourhood too," Eddy added, "military looking out for one another." A home is partially destroyed where a small plane crashed into a San Diego, California, residential street on May 22, 2025. Photo: AFP/SANDY HUFFAKER Scott Wahl, San Diego Police Chief, said he still struggling to describe the scene his crews encountered when they arrived early Thursday morning. "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 the press conference. San Diego Fire department told CNN that a Cessna 550 airplane, often called a Citation, "crashed near Montgomery Executive Airport around 3:45 am" Thursday (US time). The private jet is commonly used for business travel and can carry eight to ten people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. CNN aviation safety analyst David Soucie said one of his biggest concerns is that the Cessna Citation airplanes are generally considered "one of the most reliable airplanes." Although he's awaiting the findings from the FAA investigation into the crash, including whether fog could have played a role. Soucie said the presence of jet fuel on the ground would seem to indicate that the plane did not run out of gas. He cautioned it could also take some time to determine how many people were onboard the aircraft. "It is really difficult, considering the level of damage, I don't want to get too morose about it, to actually identify how many people are on the aircraft," he said. "So it may take a little while considering the damage to the airplane." Eddy told the Associated Press it was very foggy at the time the private plane crashed. "You could barely see in front of you," he said. Visibility was down to half a mile with low cloud ceilings around the time of the crash, weather observation data shows. Investigators look through the site where a small plane crashed into San Diego, California, residential street on May 22, 2025. Photo: AFP/SANDY HUFFAKER "I can tell you that there are multiple homes, upwards of 10 homes, that were affected," Eddy said at the conference. "Also when it hit the street, as the jet fuel went down, it took out every single car." Video captured by a neighbourhood resident who asked to remain anonymous shows flames engulfing vehicles lining both sides of the street shortly after the crash, as their car alarms blared. The resident told CNN they were awakened by a loud boom and their house began shaking. The man ran outside to see the whole street ablaze and grabbed a hose to begin spraying down his yard, he said, then he decided to evacuate the area. He told CNN he also helped police knock on his neighbours doors so they could evacuate. Captain Robert Heely, Commanding Officer of Naval Base San Diego, said the neighbourhood is "one of the largest military housing units in the world". "Certainly we have a lot of military families that are impacted," Heely said, before adding his condolences to the families of those on board the plane. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria vowed the city will continue to support those affected. "They are part of a military community that makes up our city - proud partners of our community - and we will support them for as long as it takes to make sure that we get back to good here," he said. The San Diego Humane Society has taken in at least 12 pets affected by Thursday's crash, including multiple dogs whose fur was doused in jet fuel. A post on X shows the humane society's medical team donned hazmat suits to decontaminate and wash off the animals. According to the flight tracking site FlightAware, the Citation took off from Teterboro Airport, just outside of New York City, late Wednesday night (US time). The plane stopped in Wichita, Kansas for about an hour before flying on to San Diego. The pilot of the plane asked air traffic controllers about the weather at Montgomery Gibbs Field when they were descending at 9000 feet, but the automated weather system at the airport was not working, air traffic control recordings show. "The Montgomery ASOS is out of service," the Southern California Approach controller told the pilot in audio recorded by The Automated Surface Observing System provides weather updates every minute, 24/7. "I've got the Miramar automated weather," the controller radioed the pilot and provided him the conditions from the Marine Corps Airfield - about three miles away. The controller reported poor conditions - visibility of a half mile and a cloud ceiling of 200 feet. The pilot's responses were not recorded by the website. The controller checked another airport which was "a little bit better but not much" before the plane proceeded to try and land at Montgomery Gibbs. The pilot announced on the radio the plane was three miles away from a planned landing on Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport runway 28, according to a recording from the website There was no sign of any problem, and no emergency was declared. The airport has a control tower, but it is not staffed in the overnight hours so pilots announce their intentions to any other pilots listening on the "common traffic advisory frequency." The Citation, according to FAA records, is owned by a company in Alaska and was built in 1985. - CNN
Reuters
22-05-2025
- General
- Reuters
Small plane crashes into San Diego neighborhood, killing at least 2
LOS ANGELES, May 22 (Reuters) - At least two people were killed and eight others injured on Thursday when a small plane crashed in a San Diego neighborhood where military families lived, damaging houses and vehicles. The crash occurred around 3:45 a.m. local time (1045 GMT) in a military housing complex in the Tierrasanta neighborhood, local officials said. The crash site is a little more than 2 miles east of Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. It was unclear how many people were onboard the plane when it crashed. Police said they believed no one on the ground was killed but could not immediately confirm that. 'We had a plane that had come through this neighborhood, taking out one home,' San Diego Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said at a news conference in front of a damaged home. When fire crews arrived on scene, they found one home and multiple vehicles on fire, Eddy said. The San Diego Police Department reported two people were confirmed dead and eight others were injured, as of 11 a.m. Thursday. Only one person with minor injuries was transported to a hospital as of Thursday morning, Eddy said. About 100 people were evacuated from homes in the neighborhood as of late Thursday morning. The plane was identified as a Cessna 550 by the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane, whose route originated in the Midwest, was bound for San Diego, Eddy said. The tract where the crash occurred is managed by Liberty Military Housing, officials said. 'We are actively working with all military families affected, specifically within this region, because they may be out of their homes for a while,' said Captain Bob Heely, commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego. Heely said he was working with Liberty Military Housing and the Red Cross to provide temporary housing to the affected families. 'As you can see, the damage behind us is incredibly significant, was life-threatening, and thank God nobody on the ground was killed,' Raul Campillo, a member of the San Diego City Council, said at a news conference near the crash site. The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
