A small aircraft crashed in a San Diego neighborhood Thursday morning, setting several homes and vehicles on fire.
The aircraft, a Cessna 550, crashed at around 4 a.m. in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood, leaving a path of destruction in its midst.
The plane can carry six to eight people and officials said that at least one person in the aircraft died. Nobody on the ground was seriously injured.
“We have jet fuel all over the place,” Assistant Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy said during a news conference. “Our main goal is to search all these homes and get everybody out right now.”
He said “there is a direct hit to multiple homes” in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood and described “a gigantic debris field” in an area of densely populated homes and sweeping canyon views.
Initial reports say that the plane hit a pole, losing its wing, then crashed into a home, sending debris airborne. Officials said that 15 homes were impacted by the crash.
Video footage by Fox 2 KTVU shows one house badly damaged by fire. At least three cars were seen burned in the driveway and the roof was partially collapsed.
The crash site is close to the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, a smaller airport on the north side of the city. It drew a large police and fire response.
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Debris from the aircraft was seen strewn along a nearby road and several other cars on the road were also burned and could be seen still smoldering hours later as the morning sky brightened.
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Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the plane to crash.
One witness said he heard several loud booms followed by fires.
“You look out the window, you just see big flames… So big flames, fames everywhere,” he told Fox 2 KTVU.
Multiple roads were cordoned off and will remain closed off for several hours, officials said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
