The pilot of a private jet that crashed into a San Diego home in pre-dawn darkness and fog, killing all six people aboard the plane, may have been unaware landing lights were out of service at the airport where he was headed, officials said on Friday.
According to Reuters, the twin-engine Cessna Citation on approach to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport early on Thursday clipped some power lines and plowed into the Murphy Canyon military housing community, according to Dan Baker, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator.
A fire ignited by the impact destroyed the plane and damaged nearby homes and vehicles, Baker told a news briefing a day after the accident.
Baker said nobody on the plane survived, but that no one on the ground was killed or seriously injured. Although Baker did not specify how many had died, authorities had previously said six people were aboard the plane, including the pilot.
Local news media identified two of the people aboard the plane as music industry agent Dave Shapiro, owner of the company to which the plane was registered, and musician Daniel Williams, a former drummer for the metal rock band The Devil Wears Prada.
A total of eight people on the ground were treated at or near the scene for minor injuries, said Candace Hadley, a spokesperson for San Diego Fire-Rescue, adding that a number of residents were instrumental in safely evacuating their neighbors as the fire spread.
The cause of the accident has yet to be determined. Among the questions investigators will seek to answer is whether the pilot was aware of a notice alerting flight crews that runway and glide-path lighting at Montgomery-Gibbs airport was out of commission.
The pilot did not report any problems to air traffic control or declare an emergency before the crash, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m. (1045 GMT), Baker said.
Visibility in the early morning darkness was also limited by heavy fog, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said.
The fact the pilot sought to land in fog and darkness on a runway without illumination suggests he did not know the lighting system was out of order as he approached the airport.
“You could barely see in front of you,” Eddy was quoted as telling the Los Angeles City News Service.
An automated system for providing real-time weather conditions was also out of service at Montgomery-Gibbs, requiring air traffic control to furnish pilots weather data from the next nearest air field, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, about 4 miles to the north, Baker said.
The ill-fated flight originated from New Jersey and stopped in Kansas to refuel before taking off again en route to San Diego, local news media reported.
