Horrifying new video has surfaced of a deadly plane crash at a San Diego airport that killed two people.
The footage shows a Cessna Skyhawk engulfed in flames on the runway at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in Kearny Mesa after it plunged to the ground Monday evening. Mauricio Godinez, 47, and his wife Melizza Cardiel Godinez were at a nearby hangar when they heard the aircraft slam into the tarmac.
“We heard this loud boom. She peeks out, she tells me a plane crashed,” Godinez told ABC 10.
“I peek outside, and yes, a plane definitely crashed.”
Cardiel ran toward the wreckage to see if she could help, but the blaze had already consumed most of the plane. The video captures flames roaring through the aircraft as she approaches, with little more than the tail section still exposed.
“The flames was just too much,” Cardiel recalled.
“If we would have gotten in there, we would have gotten burned ourselves.”
An initial FAA report obtained by ABC 10 states the crash occurred while the pilot was attempting to land. The left wing dipped, and the aircraft then “appeared to stall and spun into the ground,” according to the report. Earlier surveillance footage showed the plane gaining elevation before suddenly nosediving at the airport early Monday evening.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA spent Tuesday combing through the charred debris as they work to determine what caused the fatal crash. The two passengers killed have not yet been identified by authorities. Results of the investigation are not expected for several weeks.
The San Diego tragedy came just two days after another fatal plane crash in California’s Central Valley. On Saturday, a fiery wreck near Sierra Sky Park Airport in Fresno killed all four people aboard: flight instructor Danna Eady, 41, her husband Craig, 44, and their two sons, Pavel, 10, and Remus, 13.
That aircraft also erupted in flames upon impact, marking a devastating weekend for aviation accidents in California. The Eady family had been aboard the Fresno flight, which went down near the airport where Danna taught.
The Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in Kearny Mesa sits in a densely populated area of San Diego, with residential neighborhoods and commercial buildings surrounding the facility. The airport primarily serves general aviation and has been the site of previous incidents, though fatalities are relatively rare.
Godinez and Cardiel’s quick response to approach the burning plane, despite ultimately being driven back by the intensity of the flames, underscores the chaotic and dangerous conditions witnesses faced in the immediate aftermath. Their video has provided investigators and the public with a visceral record of the destruction.
The back-to-back fatal crashes have drawn renewed attention to general aviation safety in California, though federal investigators have not indicated any connection between the two incidents. Both remain under active investigation with preliminary findings pending.
The NTSB typically releases preliminary reports within two weeks of major accidents, though full investigations can take 12 to 18 months to complete.