A small plane that appeared to be a Cessna private jet crashed into a San Diego military housing neighborhood on Thursday morning, killing multiple individuals.
A small plane crashed into a San Diego military housing neighborhood on Thursday morning, killing multiple individuals on the plane, officials confirmed. Addressing reporters at the site of the crash, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said that the plane struck about 15 homes, causing multiple homes and cars to catch fire.
“I just walked it myself, and down the street itself, it looks like something from a movie,” Eddy said Thursday morning. Addressing reporters for a second time Thursday morning, Eddy said that more than one person was killed in the crash, but that all of the fatalities were among the plane’s passengers. He said that the plane could have sat eight to 10 people, including the pilot, but that officials did not know how many people were on the plane when it crashed. The plane appeared to be a Cessna private jet, he added. “We do believe we have multiple fatalities, but we’re going to have to go through and take our time and ensure that’s exactly what we have,” he said. Eddy added that there were not fatalities from the homes the plane crash destroyed. “The good thing that we have was we have not transported anybody off scene from any of these areas here right now,” he said. “And we’re searching through to make sure that nobody’s in any of those homes.” Eddy said that multiple neighborhoods in the area were evacuated, partly because of fuel spills caused by the crash. “We have jet fuel all over the place,” he said. “We have hazmat on scene right now, and we’ve asked for more resources to come for that.” He added that the homes affected were military housing. Describing the crash site to reporters, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said that there was “jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once.” “It was pretty horrific to see,” he said. San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo said in a statement on X that “numerous homes were lost,” but that “no more people are in harm’s way at this moment.” “I pray for those who lost their lives and we will help those affected recover,” he added. Video of the crash site shared with NBC News shows what appears to be a car fully submerged in flames with police sirens in the background. Forrest Gallagher, who lives in the area and captured the imagery, said a “loud boom” woke him up out of a deep sleep. “I went outside to my neighbors out in the street and smelt a weird burning smell, like rubber/plastic smell,” he said in a text message to NBC News. “I went outside to investigate and that’s when I saw the car on fire.” Gallagher, a Marine Corps mechanic, added that he did not see “any plane wreckage” and that he was not evacuated. In a statement on X, the San Diego Police Department urged people to avoid the area and said more information would be shared as it becomes available. The department added in a later statement that two local elementary schools were closed for the day. At the press conference, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria thanked first responders. “Every San Diegan expresses our appreciation to these heroes who got the job done this morning,” he said. “Still a tragedy, and again, our hearts are with those who are impacted.” “We’ll continue to be here throughout this response effort to make sure, again, the families who are impacted, those who are not able to access their homes, are well supported until they’re able to get back into their homes,” Gloria added. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it did not immediately know the number of passengers on board. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
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