As reported by the Associated Press, the airport’s runway lights and weather alert system were not working because of heavy fog at the time of the crash on May 22 in a San Diego neighborhood. Six people on board died, including Daniel Williams, the former drummer for Devil Wears Prada, and Dave Shapiro, a music talent agent.
At a news conference about the crash on May 23, senior investigator Dan Baker from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that they had recovered ADSB (automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast) data, fight track data, and audio from air traffic control from the flight that crashed.
He said that the pilot of the terrible Cessna 550 didn’t tell air traffic control about any problems and didn’t call for help.
Baker said that officials found that at San Diego’s Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, the automated surface observing system that tells pilots about the weather at the airport wasn’t working because of a separate power surge.
He also said that weather information from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, which is 4 miles north of the airport, was given to the pilot by air traffic managers.
“At Miramar, the weather was reported as ‘wind calm, half-mile visibility, and 200-foot ceiling,'” he said.
Baker also said that Montgomery Airport’s landing lights were not working at that time. And he said the plane didn’t have a flight data recorder. The officials are also looking into whether it had a cockpit voice recorder.
According to the AP, a recording of the pilot talking to an air traffic manager shows that the Cessna pilot knew the weather wasn’t good enough to land the plane at the airport and also talked about how clear it was.
The news source also said that it’s not clear if the pilot had looked at the FAA’s official notice that the landing lights were out, but they did say that the pilot knew that Montgomery Airport’s weather system wasn’t working. On the tape, you could hear him say that he was going to land the plane at the airport.
The pilot was heard telling the air traffic director, “It doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a try.”
Later, at about 3:45 a.m. local time, the Cessna 550 crashed near the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed hours after the crash that there were six people on board.
The six people who died when the plane crashed were eventually named by police and the media as Shapiro, Williams, Emma L. Huke, Celina Marie Rose Kenyon, Kendall Fortner, and Dominic Damian.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said that after the incident, about 100 people had to be taken to safety. KNSD, an NBC affiliate, said that at least 10 houses were damaged.
Baker told the news conference that there were no deaths or serious injuries on the ground.
Baker said that a basic report on the investigation should be out within 30 days of the crash. He also said that a final report would be out 12 to 24 months after the accident.