News

Two killed after small plane crashes in residential driveway near San Diego

A flight instructor and a student have died after a small plane crashed in a residential area in outside San Diego, California on Thursday, the San Diego Tribune reports. No one on the ground was hurt.Just after 9 a.m. on Thursday, neighbors heard a plane sputtering badly in Santee, just west of Gillespie Field. The small Piper Cherokee lost altitude fast and and banked sharply while trying to make a U-turn. It crashed at 9:15 a.m., landing upside down in the driveway of a residence after clipping tiles off the building, witness, Craig Lilley, recounted to NBC 7 News. “I could tell there was no way he was going to make it,” he said.The pilot died at the scene while the injured passenger was rushed to hospital. He succumbed to his injuries later that day, said Santee Fire Chief Richard Mattick.The Tribune reported that residents have filed complaints to the county regarding pilots from the Golden State Flying Club aviation school not following the designated flight pattern over the area. Students have also been cutting engines, part of the training course, over homes and schools.“We get this all the time – it was just a matter of time before this happens,” Cary Nichols, a resident that live nearby the crash site, said to the San Diego Tribune.