SAN DIEGO – At least two people died Saturday afternoon when a small plane crashed into a home in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego.
The plane crashed into a home in the 6000 block of Chandler Street near Abernathy Avenue at about 4:40 p.m., according to Monica Munoz with San Diego Fire-Rescue. The crash caused the home to burst into flames.
The Beech BE36 Bonanza single engine plane took off from Montgomery Field and crashed about a half mile away into a house at 6246 Chandler Drive, according to Allen Kenitzer with the Federal Aviation Administration. It was carrying four people, an emergency responder who was not at the crash scene told FOX 5. Two of the people on the plane were killed. Two others were taken to a hospital with unknown injuries the emergency responder said.
Officials said nobody was in the house when the plane crashed, but a pet dog was killed.
Plane crashes into #Clairemont house. @sdfd on scene. #SanDiego pic.twitter.com/rRpOKMVZZH
— Central Commander 📱 (@DeniseScatena) December 10, 2017
Richard King, who lives on the street where the plane crashed, was on his roof putting up Christmas lights when he heard what sounded like a propane tank exploding. When he looked toward the sound, he saw smoke and flames rising from a neighbor’s home. When he got to the back yard of the home, he saw the wreck of a small, single-engine plane in the house.
King and other neighbors broke windows of the home and called inside, but they didn’t hear and response, When King tried to enter the home through the front door, the black smoke was so thick that he was only able to get about 5 feet into the home before he had to back out.
Two viewers sent FOX 5 photos showing a plume of smoke rising in the sky, but it is not clear from the photos what is burning.
https://twitter.com/OmarMartinez1/status/939656925385388032
Small plane crash in the Clairemont area of San Diego. @fox5sandiego Any updates? pic.twitter.com/taws3W7kEY
— Jerklord Cromwell 🆗 (@iamjerklord) December 10, 2017