Authorities report no survivors in small plane crash in San Diego

Authorities investigating a small plane crash near San Diego County, Calif., said there are no survivors after the aircraft went down Monday night.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board told Fox 5 San Diego there were four passengers on board the Learjet 35 business jet, which departed John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif.

The jet was heading toward Gillespie Field Airport in El Cajon, a small city about 17 miles from San Diego, before it went down around 7 p.m. Monday night, authorities said, according to Fox 5.

Bystanders captured video of flaming wreckage spread across the streets of El Cajon.

Air plane crash in El Cajon San Diego On pepper and N Mollisson

Retweet#elcajon #SanDiego #Airplane #planecrash pic.twitter.com/0XRDgjjy7C

— Gautam Gada (@GautamGada) December 28, 2021

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed in a news release last night that one home was damaged in the crash but no one was injured on the ground. San Diego Gas & Electric crews are working to restore power to about 70 homes in the area, the release said.

County police responded to the scene of the crash last night along with the Lakeside Fire Protection District, California Highway Patrol (CHP) and El Cajon Police Department. According to the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were also notified.

As of early Tuesday morning, the fire resulting from the crash was out, police said.

At this time, the fire is out. It will take time to process the scene, but @FAANews & @NTSB have been notified & will handle the investigation of a plane crash in @CityofElCajon. Do you have photos & videos of the plane crash? Do you have media inquiries? Email: witness@ntsb.gov pic.twitter.com/H6ZMeqNMfz

— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) December 28, 2021

In a statement, the sheriff’s office said, “We offer our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those we lost in a plane crash in unincorporated El Cajon.”

Peter Knudson, a spokesperson for the NTSB, said three investigators were on scene and would publish a preliminary report on the cause of the crash in the coming weeks.

Investigators will be interviewing witnesses, finding perishable evidence and looking to uncover a cockpit voice recorder to recover audio, Knudson said.

— Updated at 4:50 p.m.