Private Plane Crashes In San Diego – Fatalities Reported

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a small jet crashed into a quiet residential area in San Diego’s Murphy Canyon neighborhood, erupting into flames and damaging homes and vehicles. The Cessna 550 aircraft, which can carry up to 10 people, went down just before 4 a.m., according to officials. It crashed near the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, leaving behind what San Diego Assistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy described as a “gigantic debris field.” He confirmed, “There are more than one fatality that we found so far, but we’re waiting to get the registered numbers that were on the plane itself.” Fortunately, there were no serious injuries or deaths among those living in the area.

Scene of Fire and Chaos

Firefighters rushed to the scene, where flames had engulfed cars and damaged at least 10 homes. TV footage captured burned-out vehicles reduced to blackened frames and the side of a house that had suffered major destruction. San Diego Police evacuated three streets and warned the public not to touch debris or approach areas where they could smell jet fuel. “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,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.

Plane’s Origin and Owner Under Scrutiny

The plane was registered to Daviator LLC, a company based in Alaska with a single employee: 42-year-old David Shapiro of El Cajon. According to CBS 8, Shapiro is a certified flight instructor whose license has been active since 2010. It’s still unknown whether he was on board at the time of the crash. Flight records show the jet left Teterboro, New Jersey, on Wednesday night, made a fuel stop in Wichita, Kansas, and was scheduled to arrive in San Diego at 3:47 a.m. The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will now lead the investigation into what went wrong.