2 dead after small plane crashes into San Diego house, fire officials say

Two people were killed and two others injured when a small plane crashed into a home in a San Diego neighborhood, fire officials said.

According to CBS affiliate KFMB, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department chief Brian Fennessy said the plane's pilot reported a catastrophic engine failure shortly after takeoff from Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport to the east.

Witnesses told KFMB they saw the plane nose-dive into the house and they heard the engine sputtering. The pilot told air traffic control he was trying to get back to Montgomery Field, and investigators told KFMB the pilot was trying to aim for a schoolyard with a ballfield in the back. According to KFMB, it did land there at a high speed but then slid into the home.

Less than two minutes after the crash, fire crews arrived and it took about 30 minutes to knock down the fire, KFMB reports. 

There were a total of four people on board the plane, according to SDFD. Nobody was inside the home at the time of the crash, but a dog on the property was killed, KFMB reports.  

In:
• San Diego
• Airplane Crash
• California