SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Two people are dead after a small plane crashed and caught fire at Montgomery-Gibbs Airport in Kearny Mesa Monday evening, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue.<\/p>\n
Crews responded around 5:20 p.m. after the plane, a Cessna Skyhawk, went down on the airfield. Both people aboard the aircraft were killed.<\/p>\n
Brian Raines, Assistant Fire Chief with San Diego Fire-Rescue, said late Monday they were working to confirm the number of deaths, but didn’t believe anyone else was involved.<\/p>\n
Security camera footage from a nearby business captured the moment the plane appeared to come in for a landing before nose-diving onto the runway.<\/p>\n
A pilot flying in the area at the time, Sidney Van Ness, was approaching the airport with his son when they witnessed the aftermath.<\/p>\n
“We were approaching this airport and flying in the downwind, and my son looked out the window and saw a fire. We started talking to the tower and they said the airfield was closed and we got diverted over to Gillespie a few miles away,” Van Ness said.<\/p>\n
Audio from the Montgomery-Gibbs Airport tower captured the moment Van Ness reported the fire below from the air.<\/p>\n
“Looks like there’s a fire on the airfield?” the pilot said.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, there’s an accident. The airport’s closed,” the tower responded.<\/p>\n
About 30 San Diego Fire Department personnel responded to the scene, according to the San Diego Fire Department.<\/p>\n
Raines said there was an active fuel leak when the plane crashed and caught fire, but crews quickly knocked down the flames and prevented it from spreading.<\/p>\n
Kristina Gonzalez, who lives nearby, said she and her family noticed something was wrong while driving home on the 805 Freeway.<\/p>\n
“We thought it was a brush fire and, as we exited the freeway, we kind of followed the smoke and we saw the Fire-Rescue and all the emergency vehicles coming this way. This is literally a couple blocks from our house so we came to see what was happening. Unfortunately when we drove up, we saw what looked like a remains of some kind of a plane or some kind of aircraft on the field,” Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, which will be led by the National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n
Van Ness said the experience is one he will not soon forget.<\/p>\n
“It’s impossible for you to see something like this and you know, not, not, not feel like it could be you,” Van Ness said.<\/p>\n
The National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation.<\/p>\n
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