Pilot, passengers killed in San Diego plane crash, authorities confirm

Firefighters work the site where a small plane crashed into a residential street in San Diego, California on May 22, 2025. Photo / AFP

The six people on board a small plane that crash-landed on a California neighbourhood amid dense fog were all killed, according to investigating authorities.

The Cessna 550 Citation, which federal records show belonged to music agent Dave Shapiro, plummeted into a residential area of San Diego at 3.47am, local time (10.47pm NZT) on Thursday, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

It was not immediately clear what caused the Cessna to plunge into the Murphy Canyon neighbourhood, about 3km from the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport where the aircraft was headed.

In an audio recording posted to air traffic website liveatc.net, the pilot can be heard asking about weather conditions prior to descent, while indicating that visibility was down to a minimum.

“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot said.

As the plane came down, it clipped a power line and the impact of the crash set several nearby houses and vehicles alight, jolting families awake before dawn.

“The pilot and passengers were fatally injured,” NTSB investigator Dan Baker told a press conference on Friday. He added that no one on the ground had been seriously hurt.

While Baker did not specify the number of fatalities, the US Federal Aviation Administration previously said the private plane had six people on board.

The San Diego County medical examiner’s office named three of the victims as Shapiro, 42, Emma Huke, 25, and Celina Kenyon, 36.

Music veteran Shapiro was a co-founder of Sound Talent Group, which counts artists Hanson, Sum 41, Modern Baseball and Vanessa Carlton on its roster.

The company told US media that two other members of its staff, booking assistants Huke and Kendall Fortner, were also killed in the crash.

“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted,” Sound Talent Group said in a statement.

NBC7 identified the other victims as software engineer Dominic Damian and Daniel Williams, a former drummer for metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada.

“No words. We owe you everything. Love you forever,” the band wrote in a tribute to Williams on Instagram.

Kenyon was a professional photographer and mother, according to her social media. Her father, Bryan Charles Feldman, told NBC7 she had chosen to fly home early with friends after a photo shoot rather than take a commercial plane so she could take her daughter to school the next day.

At least 10 homes in San Diego’s Murphy Canyon neighbourhood were hit by debris, while the street was littered with charred remnants, scattered fibreglass and jet fuel.

Eight people were treated for minor injuries, according to responding police and firefighters.

The NTSB said the pilot had not reported any problems to air traffic control or declared an emergency before trying to land.

The regional Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport was experiencing several glitches at the time, with its runway approach lights and an automated weather reporting system not operational, according to the NTSB’s Baker.

The plane was not equipped with a flight data recorder.

“We are trying to determine at this time if the airplane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder,” Baker said.

The NTSB said its preliminary investigation would take several weeks to complete.

– Agence France-Presse