Two people were killed Monday evening after a small plane crashed and caught fire at a San Diego airport, prompting a major emergency response and temporarily shutting down the facility.
The crash occurred at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in the Kearny Mesa area shortly after 5:20 p.m., according to authorities.
San Diego police received a report of the crash at approximately 5:21 p.m. as firefighters and other emergency personnel rushed to the runway.
The aircraft, identified in local reporting as a Cessna, caught fire after crash-landing on one of the airport’s three runways.
San Diego Fire-Rescue deployed approximately 30 personnel to the airport as crews worked to extinguish the burning aircraft.
“Approximately 30 SDFD personnel are on scene of a small plane on fire on the runway at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport,” the department announced during the response.
Officials also confirmed that the airport would be temporarily closed while emergency operations were underway.
The Federal Aviation Administration shut down airport operations as firefighters battled the flames and secured the crash site.
Authorities later confirmed that both people aboard the aircraft were killed.
The identities of the victims had not immediately been publicly released.
Witnesses working near the airport described seeing the aircraft engulfed in flames while police officers, firefighters and other first responders converged on the area.
The circumstances leading to the crash remained unclear Tuesday, and authorities had not publicly identified what caused the aircraft to go down.
Federal investigators are expected to examine the wreckage and circumstances surrounding the flight as they work to determine what happened.
Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport primarily serves general aviation traffic, including private and corporate aircraft, charter flights, air ambulances, flight-training operations, law enforcement aircraft and light cargo operations.
Monday’s fatal accident came only two days after another deadly small-plane crash in California.
A single-engine aircraft crashed near Sierra Sky Park Airport in northwest Fresno on Saturday, eventually claiming the lives of all four members of a family who had been aboard.
Flight instructor Danna Eady, 41, and her husband, Craig Eady, 44, were aboard the aircraft with their two younger children when it crashed near the San Joaquin River.
The two children were pronounced dead at the scene, while Danna and Craig were initially transported to a hospital with critical injuries.
Danna later died from her injuries, while Craig remained hospitalized before authorities confirmed his death Monday, bringing the Fresno crash death toll to four.
First responders investigating that wreck found the single-engine aircraft burning near a bluff along the San Joaquin River. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and prevented flames from spreading toward nearby homes, per Trending Politics.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Fresno crash, with the cause remaining undetermined.
The San Diego accident now marks another fatal California aviation incident within a matter of days.
At Montgomery-Gibbs, investigators will focus on the aircraft, its flight path and other available evidence as they attempt to establish what caused Monday evening’s deadly crash.
