San Diego plane crash victims were medical crew transporting patient

Residents say the weather conditions wee bad, with rain and fog

The plane that crashed into a suburb of San Diego was carrying medical crew who worked for an air ambulance, reports suggest.

A unknown source told CBS8 News that Aeromedevac Air Ambulance was registered at the airfield not far from the crash site in El Cajon, San Diego County.

The aircraft had been returning to its base when tragedy struck – killing two pilots and two nurses who were thought to be among the four killed.

The report also suggested that both pilots asked for the airport runway’s lights to be turned on brighter because of fog and rain on Monday night, but were informed it was already at 100 per cent.

“It is possible that this pilot found himself back in the clouds, very low to the ground, in a steep turn and became instantly disoriented,” said Robbert Katz, a commercial pilot and flight instructor, in an interview the news station.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday confirmed four deaths following the crash, and that the aircraft has been a Learjet 35. It is assisting in the investigation.

Images and video appeared to show the aircraft falling from the sky before exploding upon impact at around 7.00pm on Monday night, alarming residents.

“It was just a ball of fire,” one home owner in El Cajon told CBS8.. “It was super foggy. It was raining. it was raining really bad when he went down”

“I opened the door – a big ball of fire rumbled and it knocked me back,” said Bridget Spain, a resident of El Cajon. “I was really scared and trying to get out - thinking the fire was right here.”

The plane came down in El Cajon, a city about 17 miles east of downtown San Diego, and had been aiming for Gillespie Field in El Cajon – where Aeromedevac Air Ambulance is based. 

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department (SDSD) has closed access to Pepper Drive in El Cajon as an investigation is carried out, until Wednesday.

Names of the four victims will be released in the following says, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office said on Tuesday. as NBC San Diego reported.