SANTEESANTEE — Two people were killed and two others injured when a small plane crashed in a residential neighborhood in Santee early Monday afternoon, destroying two homes and a UPS delivery truck.
The UPS driver and the pilot died at the scene. Neighbors pulled a couple in their 70s from one of the homes, both of which were engulfed in fire. The man and woman were taken to a hospital in serious condition, officials said.
The twin-engine plane went down near Greencastle and Jeremy streets, less than two-tenths of a mile east of Santana High School’s football field, on the eastern edge of the campus. It struck the delivery truck and both homes, a Santee fire official said.
The Cessna C340 crashed around 12:15 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation istration. FAA officials said they do not know how many people were on board.
The plane was headed from Yuma, Ariz., to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Field — commonly called Montgomery Field — in Kearny Mesa, according to Santee Deputy Fire Chief Justin Matsushita. Montgomery Field is about 11 miles west of the East County crash site.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. They had not yet determined whether gusty onshore winds whipping the region were a factor.
Moments after a plane crashes into homes in SanteeNo one in the destroyed homes died in the crash. Matsushita said authorities were sending for the fire crews who responded.
“The scene was pretty graphic,” he said.
The crash shook homes and shattered windows throughout the neighborhood. Matsushita said debris from the plane was found at 12 houses, including the two that burned.
UPS officials confirmed a delivery driver was killed. “We are heartbroken by the loss of our employee, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” said the company, adding that it is cooperating with authorities in their investigation and deferring questions to investigators.
The plane was owned by a cardiologist with the Yuma Regional Medical Center, the hospital’s chief medical officer said in a statement.
A family member of the couple injured in their home said his 70-year-old mother and 75-year-old stepfather “are in shock, but doing OK.” Both had been pulled from the house were they had lived for about 25 years.
“There is just a pile of rubble; there’s nothing there,” the son, Jim Slaff, said as he looked at the home.
Slaff said he thinks his mother’s dog Roxy — her “constant companion” — likely didn’t make it out of the home.
“But they are out and that is one of the best things,” Slaff said. “They’re out; they’re OK.”
He said a neighbor called to alert him to what happened at his mother’s house .
“Our neighbors are amazing; they came and saved people,” Slaff said. “They put their own lives in danger to do it.”
Several residents said they heard what sounded like a low-flying plane and then felt a boom.
“The whole house shook,” said Amanda Nelson, who lives near the crash site.
Neighbor Michael Keeley was on a work-related phone call when he heard a boom and then felt his house shake. He ran outside to find the front of a nearby home on the corner engulfed in flames. He and others — including Nelson and neighbor Allison Rea — pulled a woman through a window on one side of the home.
“I’m just proud of my neighborhood, that we all came together and helped out,” Keeley said.
Shawn Purvis, who also lives in the area, said he heard a man screaming from the burning home on the corner of Jeremy and Greencastle. He and other neighbors broke down a backyard fence and carried the man to the street.
Two dead after plane crashes into home near Santana High School in SanteeAndrew Pelloth was working at home in the neighborhood when he heard a blast. “It was like a bomb,” he said.
Pelloth ran out and saw the UPS truck and corner house in flames. Black smoke filled the air. “You couldn’t see anything,” he said.
Santee Mayor John Minto issued a statement, expressing his sympathy for “the families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives.”
“On behalf of our City Council, we want you to know we are extending whatever we can for those who were injured, lost homes, or suffered property damage in this incident,” he said.
Minto said the “dreadful tragedy showed the great nature and caliber” of those Santee residents who rushed to help. “This was an absolute example of neighbors helping neighbors, and community helping in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Thank you.”
The mayor also thanked the firefighters, sheriff’s deputies and other emergency personnel who responded to the scene.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department officials asked the public to avoid the area. They also closed two streets: Jeremy Street and North Magnolia Avenue between 2nd Street and Mast Boulevard.
A temporary evacuation point for people affected by the plane crash was set up at the Cameron Family YMCA on Riverwalk Drive, sheriff’s officials said.
Santana High School officials tweeted that all students were “secure.”
Volunteers with the county-contracted Trauma Intervention Program headed to the site immediately after the crash, and within a few hours had talked with more than a dozen people who live in the area.
County Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher issued a statement, saying the Office of Emergency Services was activated and was monitoring the situation, and stands ready to provide any needed to the city of Santee.
“A tragedy like this one can have a jarring effect on a community, and I want the people of Santee to know their county government is here to them,” Fletcher said.
The Sheriff’s Department asked that anyone with photos or video of the crash call them at (858) 565-5200 so they can along the images.
Monday marked the first time a plane has crashed into a home in San Diego County since December 2017, when two engers on board a single-engine Beech B36 Bonanza were killed when the aircraft crash-landed in a baseball field at Lafayette Elementary School in Clairemont and skidded into a home on Chandler Drive near Mt. Abernathy Place.
The pilot and one enger survived. The family that was renting the home was not there at the time, but their two dogs were killed.
In September 2015, a flight instructor and student pilot died after their small plane crashed onto the driveway of a home in Santee.
In December 2008, a Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet crashed into a University City home, burning that house and a neighboring home to the ground. The pilot ejected safely, but inside the Cather Avenue home was a mother, her two young daughters, and her mother visiting from South Korea. All four were killed.
In February 2006, two small planes collided over El Cajon, killing all three people on board the aircraft and sending burning debris raining down on Harry Griffen Park, Grossmont High School and residential neighborhoods in the area. There were no injuries on the ground, but several homes were damaged.
In June 1995, two U.S. Forest Service planes collided as they approached Ramona Airport, killing all three on board and scattering fiery debris over a neighborhood. Several homes in Ramona were damaged and two houses destroyed.
On Sept. 25, 1978, a PSA 727 jetliner on approach to Lindbergh Field collided with a small Cessna aircraft and both crashed into North Park. All 135 people aboard the jet, both occupants of the Cessna and seven people on the ground were killed and 22 homes damaged or destroyed by debris and fire.
Staff researcher Merrie Monteagudo and staff reporters Karen Pearlman and Alex Riggins contributed to this story.
