Officials said several people aboard a small private plane died when the aircraft crashed into a neighborhood in San Diego, California, early Thursday. The precise number of victims remains unclear.
Authorities will investigate whether the plane struck a power line during the incident that occurred as the small plane, which was reportedly a Cessna Citation II jet, went down, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing Assistant Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy.
No one on the ground was hurt but the crash left several homes and vehicles damaged and on fire. Officials forced neighbors to evacuate the area for safety.
(Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The flight tracking site Flight Aware lists a Cessna Citation II jet that was 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, Kansas,” the AP article said.
The crash happened just before 4:00 a.m. on Salmon Street in a military housing neighborhood, per NBC San Diego.
Video footage shows the aftermath with burned out cars and damaged houses as first responders swarmed the area:
Not long after the crash occurred, Eddy said crews were working to contain the fires it left behind.
“There are multiple cars engulfed, we have jet fuel all over the place. We have hazmat on scene, and we asked for more resources. We are also working with the military. The main goal moving forward is to ensure all those houses are cleared and no one is inside. Then we will move in the middle where the plane crashed near the cars and search them, then search the plane,” he said.
He also noted it was foggy when the incident happened, stating, “You could barely see in front of you.”
One reporter spoke with a member of the military who took action to make sure people were safe when the crash happened near his own home.
“I noticed that the fuel leaking was ignited and was going down hill, so I started to direct people up hill which would be to this location,” he said during an interview conducted in a restaurant parking lot:
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) plan to investigate the incident.
