A small plane carrying six people crashed into a San Diego military housing neighborhood on Thursday morning, killing at least three employees from a music talent agency, the company said.
Sound Talent Group co-founder Dave Shapiro was among the victims, a company spokesperson said. It was not immediately clear who else was on the plane.
“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends," the company said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy."
The San Diego Police Department said earlier that at least two people were dead and multiple people were injured.
Six people were on board when the Cessna 550 crashed around 3:45 a.m. near Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, north of San Diego, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Multiple homes and cars in the neighborhood burned when the plane went down, authorities said.
"I just walked it myself, and down the street itself, it looks like something from a movie," San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said Thursday morning.
Eddy said that all of the fatalities were on the plane.
Eliott Simpson, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Bureau, said the Cessna left Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, just outside New York City, at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday. It stopped in Wichita, Kansas, to refuel before continuing to its final destination, he said.
The aircraft struck a power line two miles southwest of the airport before it hit a house, Simpson said.
Investigators are just beginning to document the scene, he said, and do not know why the aircraft struck the power line. Fragments of the Cessna were found there, he said, while a wing and the remainder of the wreckage were found at the crash site.
The plane likely has a flight data recorder and possibly a voice recorder but they have not been recovered, he said.
The airport's control tower was closed at the time of the crash, he said, noting that this not unusual for smaller airports.
Multiple neighborhoods in the area were evacuated, Eddy said, 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."
Officials said that the homes affected were all military housing.
U.S. Navy Captain Robert Healy told reporters that families evacuated "may be out of their homes for a while," adding that the Navy will ensure the families have intermittent housing if necessary.
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.
Aerial footage of the crash site shows at least one residential structure destroyed and charred cars parked along the street.
Forrest Gallagher, who lives in the area and captured the imagery, said a “loud boom” woke him 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 wrote 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.
Jasmine, who lives in the area and asked that her last name not be published, told NBC affiliate KNSD that she helped her neighbor escape her home.
“I screamed out to my son to grab the ladder, which we were able to throw over and help them climb over our fence,” she said.
The assistant fire chief appeared to mention the incident to reporters, saying: "That’s the beauty of what I love in this neighborhood, too — military looking out for one another."
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 news 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.
