Airplane crashes near San Diego neighborhood, authorities report no survivors
The Sheriff's Department said the plane was a Learjet, and authorities are uncertain how many people were on board.
SAN DIEGO, California -- An airplane crashed Monday evening in the El Cajon area of Southern California, leaving no survivors, authorities said.
The plane was scheduled to land at a local airfield when it went down just after 7 p.m, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Firefighters found no survivors at the scene, authorities said in a news release, but they did not specify how many victims were found.
No one was hurt on the ground, the Sheriff's Department confirmed. The medical examiner will investigate and identify the victims once family members have been notified, the release added.
The Sheriff's Department said the plane was a Learjet, and authorities are uncertain how many people were on board, CNN affiliate KGTV reported.
"When firefighters arrived at the scene there was significant rain occurring and there was a large debris field that stretched about 200 feet," Lakeside Fire Protection District Chief Don Butz told CNN.
"The firefighters observed a significant fireball and smoke from the fire station -- the fire station is a half a mile away from the scene," Butz said.
The chief said they are aware of a vehicle being damaged.
There was rain in the area with breezy conditions, CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri reported. The El Cajon observation site showed light winds of 10-15 mph near the time of the crash, but gusts were much higher in the nearby foothills, peaking at 40-45 mph, Javaheri added.
Weather observations from Gillespie Field, the local airport, showed visibility dropped below 1 mile about 6:50 p.m., with cloud ceilings below 500 feet, which would have required the pilot to follow Instrument Flight Rules, Javaheri noted. The conditions lasted until about 8 p.m. when visibility returned to 3-5 miles, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been notified, and will handle the plane crash investigation, the Sheriff's Department said.
El Cajon is about 16 miles east of San Diego.
The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
