At least two dead and several homes destroyed after small plane crash, San Diego authorities say

Summary

At least two people have died in a small plane crash in a residential area of San Diego, local authorities say
Eight people suffered minor injuries and multiple homes have been destroyed
Authorities describe arriving on scene to a street full of cars on fire after the private aircraft went down on Thursday morning
"There's plane everywhere," San Diego Assistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy said, describing the enormous field of debris
Almost 100 people have been evacuated from the area in Murphy Canyon, police say

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Small plane crashes in San Diego suburb damaging several homes

Live Reporting

Edited by Jacqueline Howard in Washington DC

What to know about the San Diego plane crashpublished at 21:00 British Summer Time
Image source, EPA
We'll now be closing this page, but before we do, let's get you up to speed.
What happened?
At 03:45 local time, a small private plane crashed into the Murphy Canyon neighbourhood in San Diego. Residents describe hearing a loud boom, and authorities say cars were on fire on both sides of the street.
Are there any casualties?
At least two people have died, but the investigation is ongoing. The plane was big enough to carry up to 10 people, including the pilot, but officials are yet to confirm how many were on the plane. Eight people suffered minor injuries.
How much is damaged?
One home is completely destroyed, and 10 are impacted, officials say. There is a "very large" field of debris and there is "plane everywhere". Almost 100 people were evacuated to a nearby high school.
Why did it happen?
There is very little detail so far into why this fatal crash occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a "clipped" power line. There was also "very dense fog" in the area early this morning.
Scenes of destruction on suburban San Diego streetpublished at 20:59 British Summer Time
In their latest update, officials spoke of a very large field of debris following this morning's fatal crash.
Take a look below at the latest pictures of the scene.
Image source, EPA
Image source, EPA
Image source, EPA
San Diego Mayor sends condolences to loved ones of plane engerspublished at 20:26 British Summer Time
Image source, Pool
Image caption,
Todd Gloria, pictured here speaking at a news conference earlier in the day
The Mayor of San Diego, Todd Gloria, has released an official statement, commending first responders and offering his condolences to the loved ones of those aboard the plane.
“On behalf of our city, I extend my condolences to the families and loved ones of those aboard the plane," he says.
He thanks emergency services for their "swift, coordinated response" which he says "ensured this tragedy was not compounded".
Residents helped each other evacuate, jumping out of windows to avoid firepublished at 20:08 British Summer Time
During that update from authorities, we also heard descriptions of the response from residents from San Diego council representative Raul Campillo.
He says that the families sheltering at the local elementary school told him they helped one another out of their homes, jumping through windows, avoiding fire.
"The damage behind us is incredibly significant, was life threatening and thank God nobody on the ground was killed," he says.
Dogs 'decontaminated' after being exposed to jet fuelpublished at 19:49 British Summer Time
Image source, San Diego Humane Society
An animal shelter in San Diego says it has washed jet fuel off eight dogs rescued from the crash site in the Murphy Canyon neighbourhood.
"Our medical team is hard at work decontaminating dogs who have come in after the plane crash," the San Diego Humane Society writes on X.
Earlier, we heard reports of some dogs being covered in jet fuel, with at least 12 pets impacted by the crash.
Officials give latest update on the crash - what did we learn?published at 19:39 British Summer Time
Image source, Reuters
San Diego officials have just finished another news conference following the plane crash early this morning.
Here's what they said:
- Two people have died, and another eight are injured
- Those injured were on the ground - one was taken to hospital, while the others were treated at the evacuation site
- Ten buildings are damaged, with one home destroyed
- There was "very dense fog" in the Murphy Canon area this morning
- There was also a "clipped" power line, which is being investigated
- Plane debris is scattered everywhere, with a "very large" debris field
'There's plane everywhere'published at 19:24 British Summer Time
Image source, Pool
Eddy is next asked where the plane debris has scattered.
"There's plane everywhere," he replies, telling the press that there's a "very large" debris field.
"As you would expect, something that large at that amount of speed, were going to have a lot of throw that goes every which direction," Eddy explains.
'Very dense fog' over Murphy Canyon this morningpublished at 19:19 British Summer Time
Eddy is asked about the fog forecast on Thursday morning.
He says there was "very dense fog" as they arrived on scene at around 04:00 local time.
There was a "clipped" power line, Eddy adds, which he says the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Two dead, eight injured, police confirmpublished at 19:14 British Summer Time
Image source, Pool
Officer Easter from San Diego Police is asked about the two deaths confirmed earlier by San Diego Police department.
He confirms the two deaths, and says eight people are injured.
Those injured and treated were people on the ground, Assistant Chief Dan Eddy adds. He says one was taken to hospital, while the others were treated at the evacuation site, and that all were minor injuries.
Hopes that people evacuated from surrounding area back home by tonightpublished at 19:11 British Summer Time
San Diego Naval commander Bob Heely says the local elementary school is the evacuation site, and that teams are working to get people back in their homes as soon as possible.
He says he hopes that the general area will be back home by tonight, but the immediate area will take longer as the investigation continues.
One home on fire, cars destroyed when authorities arrived on scenepublished at 19:06 British Summer Time
Assistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy tells the news conference how one home was on fire and multiple cars alight after the plane crashed into the street at 03:45 this morning.
He says there was great coordination by teams to evacuate the area.
Two deaths confirmed by San Diego Policepublished at 19:00 British Summer Time
Breaking
Two people have died after the plane crashed in San Diego, San Diego Police department has just confirmed.
Eight people are injured, and 10 buildings are damaged, the update adds.
Update on San Diego plane crash expected shortlypublished at 18:57 British Summer Time
We're due another update from San Diego authorities in the next couple of minutes.
We will be posting news lines as they come. Stay with us
We're ending our live coverage for now, here's what you need to knowpublished at 18:02 British Summer Time
Image source, Getty Images
We're going to end our live coverage for the time being, as we await more information from authorities on the aftermath of a plane crash in San Diego.
We know that a small private plane crashed into a residential street in the Murphy Canyon area, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Authorities confirmed earlier today that there are "multiple fatalities" among the plane engers, and they are still confirming who was on that flight.
No local residents were seriously injured, and almost 100 people have been evacuated from the area.
- For more on the crash, our news story will remain updated
How the morning unfoldedpublished at 17:53 British Summer Time
Information from authorities and eyewitness s have helped us piece together some details of what happened when a small airplane crashed into a neighbourhood in San Diego early Thursday morning.
It started when residents in the Murphy Canyon neighbourhood of San Diego felt the ground beneath their feet shake and heard a loud boom sound.
Some left their homes to investigate, and saw cars and houses nearby engulfed in flames.
Emergency services were called around 03:47 local time. Assistant Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy said first responders arrived to carnage, and saw "jet fuel all over the place" including running down the street.
Police then evacuated around 100 people in nearby homes.
A few hours later, we learned from authorities in a news conference that the plane, a Cessna 550, seemed to be heading to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, and that multiple people on board are believed to have been killed.
Some people in their homes suffered minor injuries, but no one on the ground was seriously harmed.
Authorities said they are still investigating determine how many engers were on the plane and the cause of the crash.
'I knew I had to get my family out of here,' resident sayspublished at 17:44 British Summer Time
Image source, CBS
One Tierrasanta resident tells the BBC's US partner CBS news that a police officer knocked on his family's door early this morning to tell them of a "big incident" in the area.
"I thought, something's going on so I'm gonna have to get my family out of here," he says.
"Instantly my mind went to, I have to get my family out of here.... everything inside the house was irrelevant. Just making sure everybody is safe," he adds.
Another resident tells NBC that a "loud boom" woke him up out of a deep sleep.
"I went outside to my neighbours out in the street and smelt a weird burning smell, like rubber/ plastic smell," he says, describing that he then saw a car on fire.
Reports of dogs covered in jet fuel, shelter sayspublished at 17:32 British Summer Time
At least 12 pets impacted by the plane crash in Murphy Canyon have been transported to an animal shelter in San Diego, the city's humane society says.
The shelter says there are reports of some dogs being covered in jet fuel following the crash, with a medical team assessing them "right away".
Image source, San Diego Humane Society
One person hospitalised following plane crash, police saypublished at 17:17 British Summer Time
We can bring you another update from the San Diego Police Department, which says that one person has been hospitalised following that plane crash.
Two others have been treated in hospital and released, the update on social media site X adds.
The police department says the area is expected to be closed all day, as the investigation continues.
As a reminder, we learnt that there were "multiple fatalities" from those travelling on the plane, but details remain unconfirmed.
'I heard a strange whistling noise, then a boom,' marine resident sayspublished at 17:01 British Summer Time
Image source, Fox News
A marine who lives close to the crash site describes hearing a "strange whistling wheezing noise" followed by a "boom and a shake in the house" in the early hors of the morning.
He went outside to investigate and saw flames, he tells Fox News.
The marine then noticed leaking fuel which was "ignited and going downhill". He says he began directing neighbours evacuating their homes to go uphill in the opposite direction.
Another witness tells a local NBC news outlet that he felt a loud boom and shaking in the middle of the night.
He says he thought he was experiencing "another earthquake" - a common occurrence in some areas around southern California - but then went outside and realised something else had occurred when he saw homes and cars on fire.
Police escort family pets away from the crash sitepublished at 16:48 British Summer Time
Just before authorities began that news conference, pictures came across our desk of emergency services evacuating a couple of dogs at the crash scene.
Streets are currently filled with burnt out cars and smoke, after a small plane crashed into the San Diego neighbourhood in the early hours on Thursday morning.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters