SIX people have died after a plane slammed into the ocean off the coast of San Diego.
The aircraft went down in 200 feet of water after taking off on Sunday afternoon.
FOX 5Six people have died after a plane slammed into the ocean in San Diego[/caption]
GettyThe crash occurred near Point Loma, a peninsula in San Diego (stock image)[/caption]
GettyAdministration confirmed the plane was a twin-engine Cessna 414 (stock image)[/caption]
The water in that area is roughly 200 feet deepNBC
The horror crash occurred near Point Loma, a peninsula in San Diego that juts into the Pacific.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the plane was a twin-engine Cessna 414 carrying six people.
The FAA said the plane took off from San Diego and was heading back to Phoenix, Arizona.
The aircraft had reportedly flown to California just a day earlier.
It went down around 12:30 pm on Sunday, according to officials.
Search crews discovered a debris field about five miles offshore later that same day but continued to search for survivors.
According to The New York Times, the FAA said that no one survived the crash.
So far, none of the six victims have been publicly identified.
The pilot made a haunting final call to air traffic controllers before the crash.
He said he was struggling to maintain his heading and climb as the aircraft turned toward the shore twice before going back out to sea.
The plane was just 1,000 feet above the water when the controller urged the pilot to climb to 4,000 feet, KTAR reported.
“A debris field has been located, but I do not currently have the size of it,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves told NBC local affiliate KNSD.
The water in that area is roughly 200 feet deep, according to the Coast Guard.
FAA records list the owner as Optimal Health Systems, a supplement company based in Pima, Arizona.
US on edge over ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A series of devastating plane crashes, including the mid-air collision above DC that killed 67, has left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.”
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.
“When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”
The short period Matzus referred to was just a matter of three weeks. The aviation mishaps included:
January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport, killing 67 people
January 31 – An air ambulance carrying a 6-year-old girl and her mom crashed on a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in total
February 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injured
February 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed killing all 10 people on board
February 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided with another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four others
February 17 – A Delta plane crashed on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21
February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people
February 24 – Smoke filled a Delta Airlines flight cabin forcing passengers to evacuate by a slide after making an emergency landing in Atlanta
March 9 – A Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed into a retirement village parking lot in Manheim, Pennsylvania
March 13 – An American Airlines jet engine erupted into flames at the Denver airport, forcing passengers to escape onto the plane’s wing
But the company said it sold the plane to private buyers last year.
The FAA database could be out of date, the company said in a statement.
Doug Grant, the company’s founder, said he personally knew several of the passengers on board.
“Our sincerest condolences are offered to those affected by the tragedy,” Grant said.
The FAA directed questions about ownership to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB has not yet commented further on the investigation.
Earlier in May, a private jet carrying a music star and a talent agent exploded into a fireball after crashing in a San Diego neighborhood.
Six people died in that high-impact crash that claimed the life of Six people died in that high-impact smash that claimed the life of rocker Daniel Williams, 39, and his agent, Dave Shapiro, 42.
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