Small plane crash on suburban San Diego street leaves fiery wreckage and thousands without power
El Cajon, California — A small plane crashed Monday night near San Diego, leaving a trail fiery wreckage on a suburban street and initially knocking out power to more than 2,500 customers, according to CBS San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV.
The San Diego Sheriff's Department said the Learjet that crashed shortly after 7 p.m. in the Bostonia area of El Cajon. It was slated to land at nearby Gillespie Field in El Cajon.
The FAA said the flight had taken off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, with four people on board.
The sheriff's department said firefighters didn't find any survivors at the scene. No injuries were reported on the ground, the department said.
One home was damaged, the department said.
Video from the scene showed firefighters dousing several small fires along a street littered with debris and downed power lines.
Fire and plumes of smoke were seen in video provided by residents in the area, KFMB reported. In a live stream by a Facebook user, burning cars were seen in front of a home.
The sheriff's department tweeted at 8:57 p.m. that the flames were out and added that the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board would be handling the investigation.
The aircraft took down an unknown number of power lines, and San Diego Gas & Electric reported over 2,500 customers in the El Cajon area were without power at one point. That number was down to 350 later Monday night. Power was expected to be restored for all residents by early Tuesday morning, according to the utility.
KFMB notes that the crash came less than three months after a small aircraft crashed into homes in another San Diego neighborhood, killing two people and destroying two homes. The Oct. 11 plane crash in Santee claimed the lives of the pilot and a UPS driver who was hit on the ground.
