Music agency co-founder among dead in San Diego plane crash

Music agency co-founder among dead in San Diego plane crash

At least two people were killed and eight others injured, officials said

At least two people were killed and eight others injured after a small plane crashed in a San Diego neighborhood on Thursday morning, spewing jet fuel and starting a large fire that damaged about 10 buildings and multiple cars, fire officials said.

The small private jet, a Cessna 550, crashed seconds before landing at about 3:45 a.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. There were six people on board, according to the FAA.

Among those killed was Dave Shapiro, the co-founder of the Sound Talent Group, according to a statement from the music agency.

"We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today's tragedy," the statement said. "Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time."

Shapiro is listed as the plane's owner.

All the fatalities appeared to be from the plane itself, San Diego Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Operations Dan Eddy said at a press conference earlier Thursday.

Of the injuries, five people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and a sixth person was injured while climbing out of a window, officials said. Two others were treated for minor injuries. All the injuries were treated at the evacuation center and no one was transferred from the scene.

A view shows a damage house and vehicle at the crash scene, after a small civilian aircraft went down in a military neighborhood in San Diego, May 22, 2025.

KGTV

Multiple homes were destroyed in the neighborhood, according to Eddy, who said earlier the crash site looked "like a movie scene." One home was permanently destroyed, officials said Thursday.

A small plane is seen under a tree after it crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing evacuations along several blocks, May 22, 2025.

KGTV

Emergency personnel work at the crash scene on a street, after a small civilian aircraft went down in a neighborhood in San Diego, Calif. May 22, 2025.

Mike Blake/Reuters

There was dense fog in the area on Thursday morning and Eddy told reporters he could only see 40 to 50 feet in front of him.

In air traffic control audio from minutes before the crash, you can hear the pilot ask about the weather, according to LiveATC.net. Air traffic controllers told the pilot the weather station at Montgomery Airport was down and the pilot asks for more weather information.

The controller tells him the weather for nearby Miramar Airport, according to the audio.

"Ugh, that doesn't sound great, but we'll give it a go," the pilot responds.

The plane was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to San Diego's Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport when it crashed. The plane originated in Teterboro, New Jersey, according to FlightRadar24 records, before landing in Wichita to refuel at 1:50 a.m. Central time. It left for San Diego at 2:35 a.m. local time.

It was roughly 500 feet in the air at its last radar check-in, according to the FAA.

Authorities work the scene where a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing evacuations along several b...Show more

Gregory Bull/AP

The plane struck a power line 2 miles southeast of the airport, according to the Eliott Simpson, a senior aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. There is an unknown number of fatalities on board the plane.

The airport tower was closed at the time of the crash, which Simpson said was normal for an airport of this size.

"You can land in an airport when there's no tower controllers there," Simpson said at a press conference Thursday.

The plane likely has a flight data recorder and possibly a cockpit voice recorder, but neither one has been recovered yet, according to Simpson.

Over 100 people have been displaced as a result of the crash, according to officials. Murphy Canyon, the neighborhood where the crash happened, is one of largest military housing units in the world, according to San Diego Naval Base Commanding Officer Capt. Robert Heely.

Multiple elementary schools have been closed for the day due to the crash, according to officials

"Our city will be supporting these families who are impacted here. They're part of the military community that makes up our city," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said at a press conference.

Vehicles burn as firfighters work the scene where a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing evacuatio...Show more

OnScene.TV

Several factors contributed to the crash, according to Gloria.

"Visibility was relatively low at the hour that the fight was making its approach to Montgomery Gibbs, the plane clipped a transmission line, an electricity transmission line and that caused it to fall into the Murphy Canyon neighborhood that's there," Gloria said in an interview on ABC News Live.

"Beyond that, we're going to wait for our professionals at the federal level to give us some more of the investigative results. But right now, [this] is a terrible tragedy of the loss of life of those aboard the plane," Gloria said.

There was no mayday call before the crash, according to radio traffic.

Emergency personnel work at the crash scene on a street, after a small civilian aircraft went down in a neighborhood in San Diego, Calif. May 22, 2025.

Mike Blake/Reuters

The plane that crashed can hold eight to 10 people, including the pilot, but it's still unclear how many were on board.

"I can't quite put words to describe what this scene looks like, but with the jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see for the police officers and firefighters to run in there, start trying to evacuate people out of the way, and doing anything and everything they could to try to save somebody's life is really heroic," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a press conference.

MORE: 2 dead after small plane crashes into homes in Simi Valley, California

Residents were evacuated to a nearby school and officials went home to home to find out if there was anybody inside, Eddy said.

"I was half-asleep and I saw a flash at the window and heard a bang," said Jennifer Hoffman, who lives a couple blocks from the crash. "I thought it was lightning to be honest, I even checked the weather to see if it was raining out. And then I heard like bunches of pops and I was like, 'That can't be lightning.' I went downstairs, I checked outside and I saw the neighborhood behind us was bright red. It was awful."

A home is damaged after a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, May 22, 2025.

Gregory Bull/AP

The plane directly hit multiple homes and cars, setting them ablaze, before running down the street, Eddy said.

"There was a big explosion and I woke up, I looked out the window and there was fire all in front of my house," said neighborhood resident Jessica Schrader. "I just kept hearing explosions and the fire was up to right in front of my front door. So I'm trying to figure out how to escape with my kids."

"We yelled for our neighbors -- our neighbors put a ladder up to their fence, it's about 8-foot-tall," she said. "We were able to climb the ladder and jump onto their trampoline to escape -- me and my children."

Vehicles are damaged as authorities work the scene where a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing ev...Show more

Gregory Bull/AP

Vehicles are damaged as authorities work the scene where a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting several homes on fire and forcing ev...Show more

Gregory Bull/AP

Rayna Crosno was awake with her sleepless toddler when she heard a "big crash" that she assumed was a car collision and saw what appeared to be "lightning," and flames in the sky, she told ABC News Live.

Her husband, who was still in bed, said he heard static and a pop, which made him believe the unique noise was an airplane crash. Reuben Crosno called 911 and drove a block away where he found what he described as an airplane wing in the road. He heard police sirens coming toward the scene.

The couple told ABC News they often feared this situation, living so close to an airport, and seeing planes overhead throughout the day.

ABC News' Sam Sweeney, Ayesha Ali and Alex Stone contributed to this report.