Small plane crash near San Diego leaves at least two dead, damages homes

A screen grab shows smoke billowing after a plane crash in Santee, California, U.S., October 11, 2021. Courtesy of Ryan Graves/Handout via REUTERS

A small aircraft crashed blocks from a high school campus near San Diego on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring two others, while also destroying homes, officials and local media said.

At least two homes appeared to have been destroyed by an ensuing fire, the city of Santee, California, where the crash occurred, said on Twitter.

“At approximately 12:00 pm today, a small twin engine plane crashed into two residential homes in Santee,” the tweet added.

10/11 5:30pm UPDATE: Mayor John Minto responds to Cessna plane crash. pic.twitter.com/eQdTqZjXfm

— City of Santee (@CityofSantee) October 12, 2021

The plane, a C340 twin-engine Cessna, was headed to Yuma, Arizona, from Montgomery Field in San Diego, but had issues and was trying to land at Gillespie Field, which is near the high school, when it crashed, according to NBC San Diego. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the plane.

Several vehicles were burned, but firefighters were able to put out the blaze before it spread to other houses. Two deaths were confirmed and two other people were taken to a hospital.

Santana High School, located three blocks from the crash, said on Twitter that all its students were “secure.”

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said a few streets were closed because of the crash and that the Federal Aviation Administration and the ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​National Transportation Safety Board would be handling the probe into the incident.

Further details on what led to the crash were not immediately available.

“It’s a pretty brutal scene for our guys and we’re trying to comb through it,” a deputy chief with the Santee Fire Department said.