Plane Crashes into CA Neighborhood

An aircraft crashed and caught fire Monday night on a residential road in the unincorporated Bostonia neighborhood near El Cajon, authorities said.

Firefighters did not find any survivors of the crash, though it was not known how many people were on board the plane, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. No injuries were reported among people on the ground.

The crash was reported about 7:15 p.m. near Pepper Drive and Somerlane Street, a little west of North Second Street, according to San Diego sheriff's Lt. Mike Krugh.

Sheriff's officials said the aircraft, which they described as a "small plane," was headed toward nearby Gillespie Field in El Cajon, about two miles west of where it crashed. Sheriff's officials said they did not know where the plane was coming from.

The crash damaged one home in the area and knocked down power lines, according to the Sheriff's Department. Footage from OnScene TV showed the smoldering wreckage of the aircraft in the middle of the roadway, most of it destroyed. Parts from the plane, including landing gear, were strewn across the street.

A San Diego Gas & Electric outage map showed two outages in the area, with about 2,580 customers initially without electricity. About a half-dozen SDG&E trucks were in the area Monday night as workers attempted to restore power amid steady rainfall.

By 11:45 p.m., power had been restored to most customers, though roughly 350 remained in the dark. Sheriff's officials said local personnel from the American Red Cross would respond in the morning to help those who were still without electricity.

Just before 9 p.m., the Sheriff's Department tweeted that the burning wreckage of the plane had been extinguished. Just after 10:20 p.m., two chaplains arrived at the scene.

Lakeside resident Suzie Mercadante was outside walking her dogs around 7:15 p.m. when she saw "a blue streak and then a giant big orange ball," then "the blackest smoke just billowing out."

Thomas O'Brien said he lives a few blocks from the crash site and was relaxing on his couch when he heard the plane approaching. He said the neighborhood is in the path of planes landing at Gillespie Field, so air traffic is common, but this plane was unusually loud.

"It was 10 times louder than normal," O'Brien said. "My walls started shaking, like there was an earthquake. I froze. Honestly, I thought it was about to hit us."

O'Brien said he saw the explosion through his back window in the reflection off his pool. Moments later, the sound reached him, and then his power went out.

O'Brien checked on his wife and son to make sure they were safe, then took off toward the crash site to see if he could help. Fire crews were already on scene.

The Sheriff's Department said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board would be on scene in the morning and would handle the investigation. Pepper Drive was expected to be shut down between Topper Lane and North Second Street until Wednesday due to the nature of the probe.

Monday's incident was the second deadly plane crash in less than three months in an East County neighborhood. On Oct. 11, a Cessna C340 crashed on a residential street in Santee, killing the pilot and a UPS driver whose truck was hit by the plane.

Sheriff's officials said the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office would be responsible for identifying the remains from Monday night's crash.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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