‘Everything on fire, pretty horrific’: San Diego police, locals on deadly private plane crash that gutted houses, cars

Several people on board are feared dead after a small private aircraft crashed into a San Diego housing neighbourhood early Thursday.

The Cessna 550 plane, which can carry 8 to 10 people, crashed just before 4 am into the US military's largest housing neighbourhood.

Due to the crash, at least 10 houses were gutted by fire or hit by debris and cars on both sides of a street were also caught fire.

San Diego's Assistant Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy said at a news conference: “There are more than one fatality that we found so far, but we're waiting to get the registered numbers that were on the plane itself.”

"When it hit the street, as the jet fuel went down, it took out every single car that was on both sides of the street," Eddy said, adding: "We have jet fuel all over the place."

The crash happened during foggy weather when the plane, which had come from Kansas, was nearing the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.

‘Miraculously’ no one killed on ground

Photos and videos of the immediate aftermath of the crash showed a line of burning fuel linking the flaming cars.

Eddy also said that "miraculously", no one on the ground had been killed or seriously hurt.

“I can’t quite put words to describe what the 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,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Wahl said more than 50 police officers were on the scene within minutes and began evacuating homes. At least 100 residents were displaced to an evacuation centre at a nearby elementary school.

San Diego is home to US Navy facilities, Marine Corps bases and Coast Guard stations.

The neighbourhood is made up of single family homes and townhomes. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport and Gillespie Field are nearby.

Zane Baker, a high school senior who lives in the area, said police officers had gone door-to-door getting people out of their homes.

"I immediately just rushed to the front door, just looking outside, seeing what's happening," he told broadcaster KTLA.

"I made sure all my siblings were awake and they were conscious and they were okay."

The Federal Aviation Administration said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation.

In October 2021, a twin-engine plane plowed into a San Diego suburb, killing the pilot and a UPS delivery driver on the ground and burning homes. It was preparing to land at the airport.