Plane crashes into homes; 2 killed
Victims are the pilot and a UPS driver on a Santee street. Two in a house are rescued.
Neighbors pulled a couple in their 70s from one of the homes, both of which were engulfed in fire. The pair was taken to a hospital in serious condition, officials said.
The twin-engine plane went down near Greencastle and Jeremy streets in the San Diego County city, less than two-tenths of a mile east of Santana High School’s football field, on the eastern edge of the campus. It struck the delivery truck and both homes, a Santee fire official said.
The Cessna C340 crashed about 12:15 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. As of about 2 p.m., FAA officials said they did not know how many people were on board.
The plane was headed from Yuma, Ariz., to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Field — commonly called Montgomery Field — in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa neighborhood, Santee Deputy Fire Chief Justin Matsushita said. Montgomery Field is roughly 11 miles west of the East County crash site.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. They had not yet determined whether gusty onshore winds whipping the region were a factor.
No one in the homes died in the crash. Matsushita said authorities were sending support for the fire crews who responded.
“The scene was pretty graphic,” he said.
The crash shook homes and shattered windows. Matsushita said debris from the plane was found at 12 houses, including the two that burned.
UPS officials confirmed a delivery driver was killed. “We are heartbroken by the loss of our employee, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
A family member of the injured victims said his 70-year-old mother and 75-year-old stepfather “are in shock, but doing OK.” Both had been pulled from the home where they had lived for about 25 years.
“There is just a pile of rubble. There’s nothing there,” the son, Jim Slaff, said as he looked at the home.
Slaff said he thinks his mother’s dog Roxy — her “constant companion” — probably didn’t get out of the home.
He said a neighbor called to alert him of what happened at his mother’s house.
“Our neighbors are amazing. They came and saved people,” Slaff said. “They put their own lives in danger to do it.”
Several residents said they heard what sounded like a low-flying plane and then felt a boom.
Neighbor Michael Keeley was on a work-related phone call when he heard a boom and felt his house shake. He ran out to find the front of the corner home engulfed in flames. He and others pulled a woman through a window on the side of the home.
“I’m just proud of my neighborhood, that we all came together and helped out,” Keeley said.
Shawn Purvis, who also lives in the area, said he heard a man screaming from the burning home on the corner of Jeremy and Greencastle. He and another neighbor broke down a backyard fence and carried the man to the street.
