A private jet crashed early Thursday in a San Diego neighborhood during foggy weather, setting about 15 homes and several vehicles on fire. Several blocks had to be evacuated, according to KTLA5.
Officials said there were multiple deaths, but the number of people on board is still unknown. The jet, a Cessna 550, can carry 8 to 10 people. The FAA said the crash happened around 3:45 a.m. in Murphy Canyon, a military housing area near Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.
San Diego police and other first responders quickly arrived at the scene and worked to put out the flames, which were fueled by spilled jet fuel, KSWB-TV reported.
“We have jet fuel all over the place,” said Assistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy at a news conference. “Our main goal is to search all these homes and get everybody out right now.”
Authorities later confirmed that all the fatalities were on board the jet, and no residents needed to be hospitalized.
“When it hit the street, as the jet fuel went down, it took out every single car that was on both sides of the street,” Fire Chief Eddy said. “You can see that every single car was burning down both sides of the street.”
According to the flight tracking site Flight Aware, the Cessna Citation II jet was scheduled to land at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego at 3:47 a.m. after departing from Colonel James Jabara Airport in Wichita, Kansas.
CBS News YouTubeAssistant Fire Chief Dan Eddy said the weather was extremely foggy at the time of the crash. “You could barely see in front of you,” he noted. Authorities are also looking into whether the plane may have struck a power line.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash, with the NTSB leading the investigation.
