A small plane crashed into an El Cajon neighborhood just feet away from homes Sunday evening, according to Heartland Fire & Rescue.
The crash was reported in the neighborhood of Lily Avenue and Clarke Drive in El Cajon around 6:27 p.m., Heartland Fire & Rescue said.
The plane -- a single-engine, Bellanca Super Viking -- appeared to crash on a sidewalk near a power line and close to homes. Before crashing, the plane was headed for Gillespie Field, about 2.5 miles away, Heartland Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief John Nevin said.
"The pilot was transported to the hospital with moderate injuries and no further concerns," Nevin said. No one else was hurt in the incident and no homes were struck, he added.
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Sean McGurrell, a pilot who was flying a similar aircraft on Sunday , heard the distress call to the control tower.
"All of the sudden we hear from a certain aircraft, they have more of a distressed sound, they are a little bit more nervous in their tone, and they say they have a drop in oil pressure, and a rise in oil temperature," McGurrell said.
"Now, if you’re a pilot or anybody who works within mechanics you know that high oil temps, low oil pressure is a recipe for disaster and within your training you’re taught that when you have that, you land as soon as possible and landing as soon as possible doesn’t exactly mean on a runway, it means exactly what this person did today, it means landing on a road," McGurrell added.
Footage shows the area cordoned off with caution tape as police officers and curious neighbors were seen around the crumbled pieces of the small plane. By Monday afternoon, the debris had been towed away.
The downed power lines did affect some homes and were the biggest concern. SDG&E responded and secured the downed power lines so they are no longer a hazard, Nevin told NBC 7. At one point more than 1,000 people were without power near El Cajon, according to SDG&E's website.
People are urged to avoid the area for four to six hours following the crash, Nevin said.
The El Cajon Police Department is coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the cause of the crash.
Witness accounts
McGurrell described what he heard over radio communications before the plane crashed. He said the pilot was, "reporting to the tower that he had an engine failure and that he had that loss of oil pressure, and he was saying that he wasn’t going to be able to make the runway," McGurrell said.
“From the time I heard his calls, to the time he was on the ground, was probably under two minutes, so to figure all of those and sort those challenges in under two minutes and be able to walk out alive is not only a little bit rare, but it’s probably a testament that that person was probably a very very good pilot," McGurrell said.
“You need oil in your plane for three main purposes: It cleans and cools, and lubricates the engine, when you don’t have that oil — in essence the lifeline of an engine — it’s the blood that is circulating, that is causing it to run properly, when you don’t have, that you’ll see time and time after again, someone having an engine failure just like this," McGurrell said.
El Cajon resident Brody Botts lives on Lily Street and heard the crash from his house when it happened.
"We were sitting, just finished up dinner, lights went out in the house, loud boom, thought it was an accident, ran outside, saw a plume of smoke, noticed that it was a plane crash, ran down to the scene, made contact with the pilot himself, and then proceeded from there to put bandages on his wound, calm him down, get a recollection of what happened, and make sure he was okay and everyone else was okay. Plane wasn’t sparking and leaking fuel, obviously," Botts said.
"I’ve been in the off-road world my whole life, we’ve done a lot of safety and first aid. It’s just a fight or flight response," Botts said.
"[He had a] slight laceration to the side of his head, a few busted teeth and a split lip. All in all pretty good, pretty coherent, gave me a rundown of the flight and what happened, which was good. And then once the paramedics got there, he got a little shaky, you could tell the butterflies were coming in. Kind of fading out a bit. But seemed like he was okay," Botts said.
This is a developing story. More details will be added as the information arrives.
A history of plane crashes in San Diego County neighborhoods
In October 2021, a small plane crashed into a residential street in Santee, killing the pilot and a UPS driver who was working in the neighborhood that day. That crash destroyed two homes and damaged five others, NBC 7 reported at the time.
Following that 2021 crash, NBC 7 Investigates dug through more than 120 National Transportation Safety Board investigation reports and found at least 35 plane or helicopter crashes have happened in San Diego County neighborhoods since 2010.
Of those crashes, 30 people were killed and 20 others were left with serious injuries.
Out of all airports, the majority of those crashes occurred in El Cajon's Gillespie Field, according to NBC 7 Investigates.
At least 16 crashes have occurred in surrounding neighborhoods. Montgomery-Gibbs in Kearny Mesa follows that with at least nine plane crashes, NBC 7 Investigates found.
Back in 2010, a plane crashed into an El Cajon trolley line. Planes have also turned San Diego County freeways into emergency landing strips, like the one that occurred on Interstate 5 in Del Mar in the summer of 2021.
Crashes have also occurred in a Santee homeowner's backyard in 2015 and a Clairemont Mesa homeowner in 2017, according to NBC 7 Investigates.
School playgrounds, a Target parking lot, a crowded beach in Carlsbad on the Fourth of July, a golf course, close to casinos and in office parks have all become crash sites, NBC 7 Investigates found.
